Odard and Chrono lingered behind the entrance of the circle with four comrades who bore Chrono's luggage, while Raiden let his aether cigarette rest between his lips, smoke coiling lazily from its tip. Noelle, taking her own taste of aether, held Ash's hand as they stood together, facing the group.
"As you all know, I'm practically blind now." His gaze swept over their faces.
"I have to constantly channel mana into my eyes to see anything, which means this journey is going to be much harder than we anticipated."
He rubbed his forehead as the question of how they would actually reach the Isle continued to trouble him.
"Like Chrono said, we're going to need a lot of mana to pay for the leviathan's passage and fuel our journey to Solace Isle."
Levi smirked. "You realize he's using us, right?"
Raiden shrugged. "That's all we've got." A twisted grin followed his words. "But I guarantee this bargain will work out in my favor."
