black and blue bird [se] [open]

it doesn't matter where you roam, when no one's left to call you home

"Passion isn't quite the enemy of rationality but...probably not an ally, either." The Alchemist agreed with a bit of a nod. As for who might fill such a role? Certain names came to mind certainly, Jigano chief among them. Even so, what the Sage might want and think best might not necessarily be so. That was the trouble with all of this: competing goals made the path forward almost impossible to see.

"Honestly? I've no idea. I can tell you it isn't the portal guardians." Of which he was one. "It probably isn't anyone who wears a crown, and it probably doesn't necessarily have to be a natural either, but perhaps I'm biased."

i might have strained a bit too far, i'm countin' all the moonlit stars