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Valac woke up to Twyla above him... again and Kuori having a small rant at Tristan.

"Don't listen to her she only wants you for your potions she doesn't really love you!" Exclaimed Valac groggily.

Tristan would look at Kuori, obviously not intimidated. "I adopted Vivi and you needn't worry about us. We are quite capable of taking care of ourselves. I think you should be more concerned as to how you are going to escape, but then I'm sure that has something to do with your meeting at the inn." Tristan would smile as he finished his biscuit. "By Vivi's description, it sounded like your contact must have been Arthur. He's the only soldier here now that I know has blond hair. Tell, me how did that go? Vivi's great with physical details, but sometimes the subtleties in conversation elude her."

To Valac's comment, Tristan would simply laugh. "Who doesn't? But then we all have to make a living somehow." As the fog clears from Valac's mind, he realizes he recognizes Tristan. The memory would have been more hazy if he had not relived it recently, but he does remember as a child having some interaction with this man. He was trying to take Valac some place, but he had to leave him in the woods to escape some sort of pursuer.

As Twlya spoke, Tristan payed close attention to her words. Once she finished speaking he sat in silence for a moment. "So... they made Vivi. I always figured they summoned her from some outer plane... That is some truly terrifying magic. I understand now why they're going to such lengths to cover this up. You must understand I was not in the know on this. This information will prove quite valuable to me."

Tristian would motion for everyone to come inside. "You lot don't need to stand there awkwardly in the doorway; come in. I swear the living room isn't booby trapped; that would just be too inconvenient. Stay away from the back door though, lest you want to take another dirt nap. You're welcome to some tea and cookies, but please don't touch the alchemical ingredients, as some of them are reactive."

Whether the group takes Tristan up on his offer or not, he would continue on. "I'm afraid my information might not prove as useful to you as yours was to me. I did not break Vivi out of wherever they were doing this to her, nor do I know where that place would be. I was simply hired to smuggle her out of Aria and find a place for her to live.

"I have a contact you see, an elven woman who goes by the name of 'Mother.' About once or twice a year, for about the last decade or so, she has hired me to smuggle strange people out of that kingdom and prop them up somewhere with a new life. As you saw, poor Vivi is a little stranger than most. I could not find anywhere for her to fit in, so I decided to adopt her myself. I figured I could at least keep her safe. She's quite bright, you know, and she helps me with my work. In all cases, 'Mother' has always reached out to me so I don't know how to get in contact with her. She arranges for me to pick up these people at a predetermined drop off point and then it's up to me after that.

"Oh... and the grenades were pretty standard-order knock out grenades. It seemed they wanted to take their targets alive, and now I know why. The potions they order are a variety, but they do tend to like the invisibility potions, which is great because I charge a fortune for them."

Tristan doesn't move as Valac approaches him but does look a bit confused by his statement. "How would you know about that..."A look of realization comes over Tristan's face. "No way, that's to damn coincidental." Despite Valac being in his face he would chuckle to himself. "I thought your face looked familiar, though ten years does make a difference. I'm afraid I don't know where you are from. You were my first job for "Mother." I picked you up in a field where I was told I would find you and was smuggling you out of Aria. Things got a little harry at border crossing and I had to hide you in a forest for a bit. The question I have for you is why didn't you wait for me. When I came back for you, you were gone and I couldn't find you. I had arranged for you to be adopted by a nice affluent Tielfing merchant family. They were quite mad when I didn't deliver their child."

"Your brother?" Tristan looked confused for a moment, but he would shrug it off and put his hands up in the air. "Well, that sure seems to be what the current evidence suggests, but the only person who truly knows the answer to that question is Mother. All I know is the individuals she hired me to smuggle out of the kingdom all had similar tattoos freshly done on their bodies, so you all have to be linked in some way. Vivi has the same tattoo as you, so if your friends say Vivi is something created in Aria, then its follows that you probably were, too. Sorry if that's not what you wanted to hear. You don't have any memory prior our first encounter, do you? No one ever did."

Valac hears a fluttering of wings behind him and the rest of the party sees Vivian fly down the landing from the second floor. She forces her way between Valac and Tristan and puts her hands up in a protective manner. "Leave my father alone! I told you not to follow me here!"

Tristan would but in. "It's all right, Vivi. We're just having a conversation. You know you're not supposed to fly or be downstairs without your cloak."

Vivian would look up at Tristan, misty eyed. "But... but, it looked like he was going to hit you!"

Tristan would calm Vivi. "It's all right; your old man can take a hit or two, and probably deserves more than that. Besides... this guy might be your brother. "

Vivi would look back at Valac in shock. "No way! He's way too ugly! We look nothing alike! " In response, Tristan broke into laughter.

Valac stood there for a moment trying to reconcile several thoughts and left the house before he might do something... messy. He would slam the door if he hadn't kicked it off its hinges earlier.

Twyla's eyes widened a bit when it became clear that Valac had some kind of history with this man. She' thought the magic seemed similar, but... Well, that was more than she'd expected. Probably best not to talk to him about it now, though, judging from the look on his face.

She would turn to Tristan and say, "I appreciate your telling us what you know. Your continued graciousness towards us would be most appreciated. So please don't rat us out. Thanks!"

She would curtsy again and leave with Revenge.

I'm sorry I didn't get you the start in life I meant to...

'Yeah, as if I ever had a choice' Valac thought angrily.

Valac was still contesting what was in his head but at least now Aria now seemed like someone worth killing. Taking on this new deadly resolve Valac returned to the wagon.