About two days later they arrived to Mereia. It was a relatively small harbor town, and unusually quiet.

Mrei drew in a deep breath through her nose. The morning air smelled of sea. She had only been by the sea on vacation twice.

"Will you three be alright?" Ena asked, looking down at the kids from her seat. "I wish I could stay, but I'm already late with cargo schedule."

"We'll be fine," Lucas assured her, smiling. "Thanks a lot for the ride."

"You're welcome. Take care of each other."

"We will."

"Where does your uncle live?" Mrei asked as Ena drove away.

Lucas looked around them. It had been a while since he had been here, but everything seemed pretty much the same.

"Don't tell me you can't remember," Kress said.

"I do, I do." He turned his head back and forth a few more times. "This way!"

He was sure he had picked the right house, but nobody answered the door when he knocked.

"Hey, you'll be late for school if you dilly-dally around!" a girl about Mrei's age called to them from the street.

"We're not from around here!" Lucas called back. "Do you know where Rolan is? He's my uncle."

The girl met him halfway at the fence. "Out at the sea, I guess. All fishermen are. They leave before dawn every day and come back around noon."

Kress, Lucas and Mrei exchanged a long look. Now what were they supposed to do?

"I can let you in if you want," the girl offered. "I live next door and Rolan gave my dad a spare key."

"No thanks," Kress stated. "We shouldn't just enter someone's house without permission."

Lucas didn't think Rolan would mind - he remembered his uncle as a very good-natured man -, but they could wait also elsewhere.

"Can we go watch the ships?" Mrei asked. "I mean, if we have to wait anyway."

"Sure!" It had been a while since Lucas had seen ships either.

"Wouldn't most of them be out if the fishermen are?" Kress asked.

"There's bound to be at least a few at the harbor. And we can watch when they return." Lucas turned back to the girl. "Thanks, we'll be fine like this."

"Okay. I have to go to school now. Nice talking with you."

The three headed down the street to the harbor, Mrei bouncing at the front of their little group, and settled to watch the sea and the few ships still at port at the foot of some cranes. They weren't in use at the moment, and there was nobody there to drive them away.

"I'd like to live by the sea like this," Mrei said after a while. "What about you, Kress?"

"Why are you asking me?"

"Because I want to know what you think!"

Kress shrugged. "I've never really thought about it. I suppose it could be nice."

"I like the grasslands and mountains," Lucas stated. "But visiting sea like this sometimes feels good." He suddenly jumped to his feet. They were a good 20 feet higher than the surrounding areas and had an excellent view to the docks. "Hey, over there! That looks like uncle Rolan!"

Mrei peered to the direction Lucas was pointing, trying to shield her eyes from the sun with her hand. "That big man tying those ropes?"

"Yep."

The man had really broad shoulders - at least from Mrei's perspective - and was wearing a light raincoat with the hood pushed back to reveal dark brown hair with a hint of red mixed in. His hair was pretty long too - down to his shoulders - and only a few strands of it still remained in the ponytail tied at the base of his neck.

"Ahoy!" Lucas yelled and waved his hand. "Uncle Rolan!"

The man turned to look to their direction and waved back when he spotted them.

"Let's go!" Lucas enthusiastically climbed down from their seat.

Mrei looked around for an easier way down.

"Come on! Jump!" Lucas encouraged her. "I'll catch you."

She hesitated a tiny moment longer before hopping down. As promised, Lucas caught her, although it took considerable effort not to fall down at the sudden weight. This had always looked easier on television.

Kress calmly handed their bags to Lucas and carefully lowered himself down to his companions.

"Well, I'll be!" Rolan smiled widely. "It -is- little Lucas."

"Not so little anymore," Lucas replied with a smile of his own. "I'm already 12."

"Heh, so it seems. Who are your friends?" The clothes wouldn't fool him that easily. Their skin was too light to be children of the Skyfall tribe.

"Kress. Mrei," Lucas did quick introductions. "Father gave me a letter for you and said it would explain everything."

Rolan noted that the plank had been lowered between the dock and the ship's deck and that people were already carting empty crates aboard. "Sorry, I can't read it right now. Why don't you help with sorting and unloading the fish and I'll be done faster?"

"I really don't know what to even do-" Kress started.

"It's very easy. Come, I'll show you."

It was very easy. Just put the big fish into one crate and small ones to another. But it took a long time and when they were done, even Mrei didn't think living by the sea that much fun anymore. And the fish -stank-!

"Let's go home, kids." Rolan hoisted a small sack that also stank of fish on his shoulder. "I'll make you some fish soup as a thank-you for your help."

Not more fish!

Rolan just laughed at their expressions. "It's good, believe me. Or do you want fish fried in butter? That was Lucas's favorite when I last saw him."

Now that he thought about it, it was. "Fried is better."

It was a pretty small house, smaller than Lucas's home. It had only one floor and was divided into single bedroom, bathroom and a large open space with kitchen on one side that doubled as dining room and living room. Rolan dropped his sack of fish on the floor in the general kitchen area before placing the children's bags into a closet.

But before they got started on lunch preparations, Lucas dug the letter from Aidan out of his bag and handed it over.

Rolan carefully read it over. Then again.

"So basically...you are saying that Kress here is the messenger?" he slowly stated.

"That's what Aidan believes," Kress replied.

"And you don't?"

"I don't even believe in your spirits. So why would I be?"

"He has the mark!" Lucas put in.

"That's what this letter says. But before I take an outsider to the shrine, I want to see for myself." He looked at Kress expectantly.

What was he, a circus attraction?

Rolan misinterpreted Kress's hesitation and nodded to Mrei. "Would you turn around, lass?"

Mrei quickly obeyed. She didn't want Kress watching her change clothes either, so it was fair she wouldn't look.

Reluctantly Kress removed his coat and handed it to Lucas before pulling his shirt over his head. Then he turned around to let Rolan see his back.

It looked right. Experimentally Rolan poked the pattern. There were small ridges on the skin, making it unlikely it was skin paint or a tattoo.

Kress shuddered and forced himself to remain still despite his instincts telling him to back away as far as he could go.

Touchy kid. "Hey, I just want to know it's real. Just think of it as a medical exam."

"Not helping!" Kress snapped back in low voice. He didn't like being touched, and anything medical frankly scared the hell out of him.

Completely out of the blue he felt someone take his hand and squeeze reassuringly. Lucas. He relaxed a little.

"Make yourselves at home, kids," Rolan said. "I have to discuss this with Nassa."

"But...wasn't that enough proof?" Mrei frantically asked, completely forgetting that Kress was still half-naked in her hurry to somehow convince Rolan.

Rolan chuckled and ruffled her hair. "For me, yes. But it's not my call alone."

Kress quickly donned his shirt again. He waited until Rolan was out of the door and it was just the three of them before stating, "I don't like this."

"I think it went well," Lucas said. "I don't see any reason why grandmother would not believe you if uncle Rolan does."

"Are you blind? He doesn't trust me one bit because I'm not of your tribe." He sighed. "Why do we even try..."

Mrei moved to his other side and took his hand. Kress hadn't even noticed he had somehow sought out Lucas's already. "We have to find a cure for you and daddy. We can't give up."

~*~*~

Honestly speaking, Rolan wasn't sure what to think. On one hand he wanted to believe that their people's prayers were finally answered, on the other he couldn't fathom why it had not been one of their own children. That was, if it was not some trick.

He knocked briefly on the door before letting himself in. "Mother, it's me."

A woman on her late 70s walked to the entrance hall slowly, leaning on a cane. "I would say that nice of you to drop by, but somehow I get a feeling that this is not a social visit."

"It's not. A boy bearing the mark of the messenger came to see me."

"You don't seem happy over it."

"He's an outsider. I can't help but think this is some kind of a trick." He shook his head. "Lucas trusts him, but he trusts everyone."

"That is problematic indeed." She took a seat on a nearby stool. The shrine had always been only for their people, and only a chosen few knew the intricate tunnels of solid rock leading there. Once it had been her responsibility to oversee the rituals there, with her children to assist her, but after an unfortunate accident at the harbor her legs hadn't supported her like they used to. She could no longer walk the uneven terrain to get to the sacred chamber. "But if there is even a chance that the boy is indeed their messenger, the Sky spirits would accept nothing less than him being presented to them."

"As you say, mother," Rolan nodded. "What should I do about the girl?"

"What girl would that be?

"There was a little outsider girl also accompanying Lucas. He called her Mrei."

"I see, I see...Don't take her along. She doesn't need to be there. If Lucas still has Aidan's pendant, let him accompany you."

"He does. Kress - the boy I talked about - also has one."

Now that was curious. That must have been the missing key. No matter who she had talked with during her long life, nobody had seemed to know where the last one was. "Let me know how it goes. And do send Lucas to see his grandma for a change."

After they had lost Romi, they had also lost almost all contact with Lucas. Aidan had come to visit with him only once or twice over all these years. "I will."