The crow of a cockerel within the village cut short Kaito's vivid dream. Morning's first light was beginning to seep in around the doorframe and the shutters. He gazed around without moving his head, his brain struggling to comprehend where he was for a moment. The previous evening's events returned to him within a moment. Then there had been that dream. It was still fresh in his mind. The Sage had been trying to tell him something about the gems. They were for a barrier, it seemed. A barrier that would keep him from Lilia if not otherwise dispelled.

Kaito remembered Gilda mentioning that she still had possession of some sort of gem. He hadn't been able to ask about it the night before, but it was going to be the first thing he brought up this morning. The young man sat up and stretched his arms and legs out before him. The low mattress had not been as uncomfortable as Kaito had feared, but it still didn't hold a candle to his bed back home. A wave of homesickness enveloped him, as he realized there was a good chance he would never go back. This was the life he had to look forward to, it seemed.

His white tee-shirt was soaked through with sweat at the back, no doubt thanks to the stress of the end of his dream. It had been cold and suffocating, and it felt so real. Only the Sage's words in his ear had filled him with the resolve to see it through. Kaito took a sniff at the inside of his shirt and grimaced. Not the best smell in the world; that was for damn sure. He didn't even have anything to change into. Unless he could borrow some clothes off of Gilda's father, he was only going to get worse.

"Gilda!" he called out. "You wouldn't happen to have anything else I could wear for now, do you? I'd rather not keep standing out like I do. I'm no good with being stared at like yesterday, if you couldn't tell."