Carth's magical adventure, ROUND TWO, MOTHERFUCKERS!

[Carthrat]

"Yeah," says Carthrat, glancing at both Tir and Rachel.

"It's not going to get any less dangerous," he continues, vehemently. "The Merchant Guild tends to police itself rather efficently, but there are always cracks and loopholes in any station. You two had better be able to take care of yourselves.

Even more so when we arrive on Heli. It's no place for anyone, but we have to go there. It's the only way I can see that will allow me to combat Slicing Gale and attain the resources I need to build a gateway.

I hope you're both prepared. This is probably going to be one of my biggest undertakings, and that's saying something.

So enjoy the rest of the trip. It's the last rest you'll get for some time, I can assure you."

[Anastasia]

Tir shrugs. "I've had a slow decade anyway. Sounds good, Rat." His voice shows a certain amusement now that he's made up his mind.

Rachel nods as well, after glancing at Tir. "I'm along, until the end," she confirms, smiling. "I couldn't do any less for Diane."

[Carthrat]

"Yeah, well, just hope this isn't your last decade," notes Carthrat, blandly.

"Do me a favour, Tir, and teach Rachel how to pick a lock. There's a couple of storage boxes in the cargo hold you can practice on.

As for me.. it's my turn to watch the sensor panel, isn't it?"

Carthrat heads off to the cockpit, lounging around in the pilots seat with the occasional glance at the screens to make sure nothing weird is approaching the craft..

[Anastasia]

An hour passes in peace, until your vigil is disturbed - Rachel enters, looking a bit more annoyed than when she left.

"Anything going on," she asks, grabbing the other control seat to rest her body. "Oh, and the lock picking went well enough...I suppose."

[Carthrat]

"Did Tir run out of usable paper clips?" asks Carthrat, smirking.

[Anastasia]

"Close enough," Rachel replies, sighing. "Regardless...Carthrat. Do you really trust Tir," she asks, getting to the point, fidgeting in her seat a touch.

[Carthrat]

"Why wouldn't I?" replies Carthrat, simply. "I trust Tir completely. If he wanted to betray us, or lead us on, or anything, he'd have had his chance long ago.

The rune on his hand, now that, I have my suspicions of. But the man himself.. he's a reliable person, and I can't imagine he's driven by money or glory, which would be the two main commodities he could get out of me.

That said.. a certain degree of wariness is a necessity in my profession. But I trust him as much as I trust anyone," he finishes.

"Why?"

[Anastasia]

Rachel takes in what you have to say, silent until the end.

"I don't really know," she finally says. "But...I can't trust him. Even with all I've seen, I can't bring myself to put any faith into him." Rachel is frowning deeply, looking a bit sad.

[Carthrat]

"Intuition is one of the great traits people can have," notes Carthrat. "Conversly, it can lead people to make some truly stupid moves.

I don't know, Rachel. Tir hasn't shown any signs of being untrustworthy, but perhaps I'm not the best judge. I'll keep an eye on him, but honestly, he's an asset, not a liability."

[Anastasia]

"I hope you're right," is her honest reply, serious and solemn. "I pray that you are right, Carthrat. Selena help us if you're not."

Another sigh.

Rachel leans back in her chair, closing her eyes against the bright world.

[Carthrat]

Carthrat pauses.

"Aren't there spells used to determine if the truth is being spoken?" he asks, slowly, thinking back to the few occasions he has been forced to deal diplomatically with certain spellslingers.

Not a pleasant experiance.

[Anastasia]

"There are such spells," she nods. "Detect Falsehood being the most common variant. Using strips of light cloth, a strip will blacken each time a lie is told.

As you can guess," Rachel goes on, thinking it over herself. "The basic spell isn't stealthy, nor is it overly practical. The more powerful incarnations of the enchantment are better, but harder to use.

Are you suggesting that I cast that before talking to Tir?"

[Carthrat]

"Why not?" replies Carthrat, shrugging. "If you feel so uncertain about him..."

Like you did about Setsuna, huh? He was your friend, wasn't he? You were sure he wouldn't turn on you..

But did he? Did he really?

"...I can't send him away at this point. You understand we need all the help we can get."

[Anastasia]

Rachel is silent again, finally answering mainly your second point with a sigh. "Yes, I suppose so. We can't turn down help right now, certainly not competent help."

[Carthrat]

Carthrat shrugs, not saying anything more.

Dammit. Why should I have to be so suspicious of my allies? I hated it then, and I hate it now..

Must just be the way of things, really. Watching his back because he couldn't trust anyone to do it for him... well, perhaps that wasn't true. He had Rachel.. who wasn't the naive girl he used to think of her as, it seemed.

But she still just didn't know enough.. without him, what would happen to her?

He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if he just took off by himself. He figured that without his obligation to Diane, he could easily go far and wide across the galaxy. Slicing Gale would never find him; they'd eventually give up when he killed the few agents who managed to get close to him.

Yeah. And he'd feel like shit for the rest of his life. Not something he wanted to go through again, no-sir..