Now that the whole fiasco of trying to get Nymira to come along was over, Ethan was hopeful they might return to Norman and move on. There was still the matter of their own journeys to attend to, and while this had been necessary it also had taken up a good few hours, more time than he'd like to have spent. Not wasted by any stretch of the imagination however they had secured something Cecil desperately needed, and now could continue on with their own adventure. Speaking of the Machina, why was he looking so down right about now? They had just found the woman they'd been searching for and he'd get to keep his battery, everything couldn't have worked out any better. Checking in on his friend, Ethan smiled apologetically when he seemed to confuse the other boy with his words. "You seemed sad, like something went wrong. But look, everything worked out fine! We're all here now and we're all fine, right? It's all good!" he said cheerfully with a pat on Cecil's back, placing his hands then behind his head. "If you're upset over attacking me, don't worry about it. It's a little sore but I'll survive, and I get you were trying to help, so no hard feelings, okay?"

So these three appeared to be friends, or at least companions on some sort of journey. Certainly they got along well, and in some way it was a reassurance that they were earnest about working for Norman; unless you were particularly deceptive, intentions were often out in the open and plain to see, not hidden behind a mask of friendliness and camaraderie. That was Nymira's experience at least, and she couldn't see these three threatening anyone, much less working for the criminals who had taken her. Plus the Mura seemed too simple to trick anyone, that helped her relax too. After the trio had a brief exchange they finally were back on their way to the shop, and it felt strange walking freely after days of captivity. Despite being surrounded too by supposed allies she remained alert the entire walk back, one hand always resting on the grip of her dagger. 

The shop was technically closed up once the group had arrived, yet the door remained open expectantly, as if anticipating their return. When they entered the shop they would find the engineer sitting on his workbench, a smile on his face as he spun a wrench about in his right hand idly. "Good on you kids, I knew you'd find her. Nice to see you're well, Nymira," Norman said, ceasing the twirling as he slid down off the bench, tossing the wrench over onto another table with a clang. "Also glad you held on to our agreement, you could have easily skipped town and left me high and dry, appreciate it." And he'd not had to go out and risk his own neck, it was a win-win situation. Not that he'd hoped anything might happen to the trio, but they seemed more capable if things got nasty than he would have been. Smiling politely at Nymira as she came inside he moved over to greet her, and upon getting close enough had to duck to avoid being smacked, steadying his goggles on his head and giving her a puzzled look.

"You could have sent someone sooner you buffoon, it was terribly painstaking to remain in custody for so long," Nymira snapped, "Those men were insufferably barbaric, and they absolutely reeked! I swear, it's as if they've never heard of bathing before!" That was just one of many complaints she had with her situation, all of which might have been avoided if it hadn't taken a few days to send help. Honestly, was there not a single soul in all of Galloway that had been up to the job? Watching as he tried to apologize fruitlessly she folded her arms over her chest, having to look up at the taller man but nonetheless making him shirk under her gaze. "Three days Norman, [i]three days[/i]! You promised you'd send people to act as my guard within a day, but that didn't happen. I had to free myself from their custody, you're fortunate they were idiotic enough to keep my personal belongings nearby."

"N-Now Nymira, I understand you might be a little angry," Norman said with a chuckle, holding his hands up defensively, "But I assure you, I tried to help you as soon as I could. Things just didn't quite work out the way I had planned."

"Obviously not. I don't even know why I agreed to this absurd plan of yours to begin with," Nymira continued, huffing as she finished. Remembering that there were others present she glanced at the group behind them, frowning before walking past Norman. "You explain it, I need to wash up. Three days without cleaning, and now I've got their blood on me..." she mumbled, promptly disappearing from the room as she headed inside the building proper.

There wasn't a whole lot the engineer could say at this point, knowing full well he'd ticked off Nymira. She had a temper, that one, and he was thankfully she'd not attacked him for messing up their ploy. Somewhat relieved when she left, he let out a long winded sigh before rubbing at his face, giving the group an apologetic smile afterwards. "Er... I suppose I owe you lot an apology, and an explanation. Seems like I wasn't completely up front with you to begin with." Heading to a panel on the wall he flipped a pair of switches, and at once the metal door slid down and a set of overhead lights came on, replacing the natural lighting that was cut off. Settling himself then down on the table again he fiddled with his goggles distractedly for a moment, trying to think of exactly how to explain things.  

"Nymira was kidnapped, that much is true, but I suppose she was kidnapped on purpose. You see... Oh where to even begin with this," Norman grumbled, scratching at his head, "Okay, well for starters, Nymira's kind of a princess. I don't know quite how Dimuran civilization works, but that's what she's told me, so she must be someone important. She came to me a weeks ago and asked me to help her with her mission, something about building ties with important people and the like," he recalled, laughing before smiling ruefully, "I was confused when she came to me after hearing that, but she said she was interested in my expertise with Machina, so I began showing her a few things. She hadn't planned to stay long, and before I knew it she was packing up and getting ready to leave. Or she was going to, but she had to find someone to help her along first. See... She doesn't know the area at all, and while she can fight it'd be dangerous for someone like her to go alone, so she needed some guards. Tells me her former guards up and left after they got their first bit of pay, so she was looking again. I can't fight worth a damn so I wasn't about to do it, so I told her I'd help her find someone."

Boy, the more he thought about it and recounted this whole tale, the more absurd it got. Yet if these three were going to get stuck with the princess then it was only fair they learn the entirety of the situation. "So we hatched this plan, or I guess I hatched it: Fake a kidnapping, then send some brave souls along to rescue her. The common thugs around here wouldn't be an issue for her, so we figured it was a safe bet and couldn't hurt. I'd send someone along as soon as I found someone and if they freed her, they'd be her guards. 'Course, it took a bit longer than I expected, and she was captive for a couple of days. But then you three came along looking for my help, and I saw a chance to make a deal. The rest you know, but that's the gist of it."

"So wait... We just rescued some foreign princess then...?" Ethan asked, his eyes squeezed shut as he rubbed at his head in frustration, trying to make sense of all of it. "And you sent her to get kidnapped, but not really kidnapped. So this whole thing was basically a test to see if we could protect her..." Was that it? Giving Norman an earnestly baffled look it seemed like that was the case, yet this still didn't make a terrible bit a sense at all. "Okay... But we didn't actually save her, she was already free when we found her. She even attacked us, and you never said anything about that. I just don't get it... This is all super confusing... And wait, does this mean we're supposed to guard her now? Don't get me wrong, we were glad to help out, but I think a princess is a bit beyond us..."

"Normally I'd agree, but it seems most people don't know her. Before she went and got herself kidnapped she'd walk around Galloway all day and never get bothered, so she's pretty unknown out this way. That being said, it's unlikely that anyone is going to come after her unless they have some intimate knowledge of who she is, and the chances of that are slim." Unless they raided a town or encroached on land, the Dimura were usually left largely alone by the other races. Being as combative and aggressive as they were it was often frowned upon to even socialize with them, as more often than not things turned violent, even over petty disagreements. Nymira and her clan appeared to be a bit more civilized than that, yet her temper was still there. "I know it's a huge favor to ask of you three, but you're the only ones who have taken the request, and you seem to be able to handle yourselves fine. Tell you what, if you agree then I'll even give your friend there a free tune-up, just this once. I can get his systems working even better than they are now."

Well that would be nice, as there was still some work Cecil could use. But still... To guard a princess. Ethan had to remember his own reason for traveling in all of this, and the fact he was already trying to help out both Amuné and Cecil. There was no telling where Nymira might take them or what might come their way, or how much it might take them away from their own goals. "Uh... Just one second Norman, okay?" Ethan said with an uncertain smile, promptly turning around and looking at his friends, keeping his voice at a whisper. "What should we do...? I mean we can say no, but... He said she needs someone to protect her, and we might be able to do that. But if we do it then it might take longer for us to do what we need to..." he said, sighing and hanging his head, "Man... I don't even know right now..."