• Ephraim awoke to a sharp pain in his side. "GET UP YOU LAZY IDIOT." Marie screamed. "We're at Lira, go find information." Ephraim simple gave her a half-awake stare. Marie shook her head and began ranting. "God! I try to keep all of these people in line and yet they simple can't follow simple instructions. LIRA. WE'RE HERE. INFORMATION. GO FIND IT." Marie angrily ordered as she walked away from Ephraim. Ephraim jumped out of the wagon and made sure he still had the Glorie. When he looked up, he was shocked. Instead of sand, a massive field of green lay before him. This was impossible, as Pharis was a desert country! He quickly ran over to Marie and called out to her. "Um... Marie? I'm pretty sure this isn't Lira." Marie stared at him with the same look she always did. "I'm an idiot, I get it, could you answer me please?" Ephraim asked. Marie turned back to what she was doing. "This is Lira. It's impossible that I've made a mistake." Marie answered.

    Ephraim stared unbelievably. "But this is Pharis. Where's... Y'know, the desert?" he asked. Marie shot him the same look again. "Did you hit your head in the wagon? We live on the continent of Estinene. There aren't any deserts. Except for Skygger, it's all fields and forests, remember?" Marie explained. Ephraim was amazed. Then he remembered Wisdom's words. "History has been altered, at least in one aspect. Even the smallest of things can cause a large reaction." "Me stopping Siegfried from being arrested made forests grow all over Estinene? How is that possible? Probably best not to worry about it for now." Ephraim told himself, and he walked into Lira.

    Ephraim soon realized not much had changed about Pharis except the grass. It was still a hell-hole of a country. Most people he asked about a disturbance either spit in his face or told him to leave them alone. He ended up finding out that the local tavern was a good place to gather information. He found the place by a giant sign built above it that read out "The Drunken Ferret", and it did indeed have a picture of a drunk ferret on it, mug in hand. Ephraim entered and approached the bartender. "What'll ya have?" The bartender cried out in a gravelly voice. "Huh? Oh, just water please." Ephraim took a seat and looked around. Many people were eying him, though it wasn't completely unexpected considering the fact he was carrying around a gold claymore.

    The bartender returned with Ephraim's drink and placed it in front of him. "So what's yer name kid?" he asked. Ephraim looked up and quickly thought of an alias. "My name is Erik. I'm a mercenary." he replied. "Another mercenary huh? Been a lot of your kind around since that incident." the bartender noted. "Incident?" Ephraim asked. "Yeah. Some guy comes into town trying to sell a sword and starts smashing everything in the bazaar. Guy started ranting about death and then escaped. Haven't seen him since. You want more info, you should talk to Reign in the corner there." Ephraim looked to where the bartender motioned and saw a man drinking by himself in a small booth.

    Ephraim approached the man and drove up the courage to talk to him. "Excuse me, are you Reign?" The man looked up to reveal that all of his head and face, except for one yellow eye, was covered by a scarf. "Depends on who's asking." the man replied. "Erik. I'm a mercenary. I'm here about what happened in the bazaar." Ephraim answered. Reign eyed him for a while before answering. As he looked at Ephraim's face, his eye twitched. "Sit down, we'll talk over a drink. HEY SAM! GET A FIREBRAND FOR THIS KID AND SOME WHISKEY FOR ME! Trust me, you'll love a Firebrand. Best drink in the house." Ephraim tried to tell him he didn't drink, but it was probably best not to do anything that could anger him. He sat down and the bartender, Sam, brought their drinks.

    Ephraim forced down the hard liquor as he spoke to Reign. Reign's attitude suddenly changed as he began talking. "Ok, look kid, you don't want to get into this mess. That sword the guy had, it's cursed, you want nothing to do with that. Besides, you won't have to worry about it for long." Ephraim looked at Reign and replied "Not have to worry about it? What are you talking about?" Ephraim noticed he was getting a little lightheaded. "I know who you are." Reign said. "Prince of Arcia. HA! Prince of nothing is more like it." "What the hell are you talking about?" Ephraim asked, his breathing quickening. "I mean," Reign replied, "that you shouldn't have come here Ephraim. There's a lot of people that want you dead you know. I should have taken care of you 11 years ago. But I guess now is fine too." Ephraim's vision began throbbing and blurring. He fell to the ground in convulsions and began to black out. "You... b*****d." Ephraim cried out. Ephraim heard a few words escape Reign's lips as he was losing consciousness. "Look's like I win, little prince."