"......." Ash was silent as Mina gave her warning.

"I see." he said.

"Well... fair enough, I suppose." he muttered.

"Guess that's not the best seat for a newbie, then." he mumbled further.

"Back to square one, then." he said.

"Finding a place to sit."

Ash quickly followed Mina to the table, and sat down in one of the empty chairs.

"Greetings once more." Sorrel said to him.

"Hey again." Ash responded.

"So..." one of the males commented, speaking to Emi. Ash could see some strong resemblance between the two of them... as though they were related.

"This is the guy?" he asked, running a hand through his jet black hair.

"The man, the myth, the legend?" he asked further, a subtle smirk on his face.

Ash just shrugged.

"Yeah, that's me." he said.

"You two related?" he then asked the male, gesturing to him and Emi.

"Yeah." the male replied.

"I'm her brother." he told Ash.

"You make any sudden moves towards her, and I'll drain you to within an inch of your life." he then threatened.

Ash was silent as he took a seat.

"Yeah, I can see that." he said.

The male just huffed a bit.

"Can you blame me?" he asked.

"You're my sister. You're family." he said.

"...and family look out for each other." Ash added.

"........yeah. I was going to say just that." Emi's brother said to him.

"Rene said that all the time." Ash responded with a smile.

Ash was silent as he heard that.

"Dragon... blooms?" he asked.

"Yeah." Emi's brother responded.

"Why? You know what they are?" he asked.

"No." Ash responded.

"But I remember hearing about them before I was sealed away. Anna and Andrew would speak of them, but whenever I asked, they wouldn't say anything." he told him.

"So this is a crucial time for them, and for Sorrel." Ash commented.

"Yeah." Emi's brother responded.

"I can understand that." Ash replied. "Anna and Andrew would disappear for weeks on end at times when they were caught up in their growing." he said.

"We only ever got worried if a month had passed." he went on.

"But man, some of the things they cultivated..." he finished, trailing off wistfully.

Ash smiled a little when he heard that.

"Awesome." he said, as those that appeared to work in the kitchen started to bark out orders and such, telling people to sit down, shut up, and let the food come to them.

"Oh yeah." Ash whispered to Emi.

"You guys need help in kitchen detail or anything?" he asked her.

"I'm good in the kitchen."

Ash was silent as he heard that.

"Hm." he mumbled.

"I see." he said.

"Then I'll talk to them after this meal." he told them.

"Listen, if you can help them put out better food, then you'll be loved here." Emi's brother commented.

"Seriously. Food that tastes good is a luxury, for the most part. It'd make SO many people happy."

Ash looked at the note, and growled lightly.

"Damn it." he said.

"Need to find Emi. Fast." he muttered.

With that, he scrawled a quick response to Vic, gave it to the bird, fed it a little treat, and sent it off when he made his way to a window. Once the bird was gone, he made his way to the head office, where he knocked on the door.

"Hey, anyone home?" he called in.

Mina, Emi, either would work. He needed people to know about this, and the 'higher-ups' were the best place to start.

"We have bigger problems." Ash told her.

"Not that Mina isn't important, but... well... here." he said, handing her the note.

"A Sylphjay found me earlier. Gave me this." he told her further. "It's from Vic." he said.

"And from the looks of it, we need to prepare." he continued, gritting his teeth.

"We have a battle ahead of us."