Mirror Mirror Where's the Crystal Palace?

Bleh. Valentione's Day already. Bunches of stupid, lovey-dovey people doing stupid, lovey-dovey things. It's even managed to ruin delicious chocolates. Haven't people learned to stop giving them to Kii and me? Sheesh.

Well. I guess it's not nearly as annoying this year, since we're in San d'Oria instead. At least that's one advantage to hanging around Jenare. Except I had to get him chocolate. So I've been learning to cook now, but even someone like him's gotta be able to tell the difference between mine and Kii's skills, right? Argh, and I didn't even know what he liked to begin with. If I'd known this would happen, I woulda paid more attention when Kii talked about him! Well, s'not like it's hard to fool him, though. I'll just buy a pack of assorted chocolates and tell him there wasn't enough time to make them. He's so gullible, he'd believe anything I say.

Urgh, that's not supposed to be a good thing! What's going to happen when he finds out? Guess I'll just have to make sure he doesn't. I'll just keep being Kii forever, that's all.

I even managed to help a whole bunch of people today! Well, "we". And I don't know if it counts as "helping", anyway. The moogles were up to something weird again, and got us to help people hook up by trading magical chocolate for them. How well is this going to work? I mean, the moogles keep getting things weird and wrong, and I'd hate to get stuck with some random person, anyway. Even Jenare seemed a bit worried!

Well, whatever, I guess. If they're happy, they're happy.

...Even if it's a lie?

Oh, no. Oh, nonononono. It can't be true. It can't...!

Okay, right, right, from the start. So, after our little break for Starlight Celebration and the New Year's celebrations, Jenare figured we should get to Bastok and finish that whole friendship-between-the-nations dealie our nations wanted us to do. And, well, I mean, he's right. I guess it's pretty important and all.

It was a peace of cake when he went to Windurst and I went to San d'Oria, so I figured it shouldn't be all that different, right? And it started out normally enough. Our oh-so-dear consuls sent us to check the Palborough Mines, because the quadavs were being just as weird as the yagudo and orcs. Simple enough, right? Right?

Yeah, except we ran into a freaking dragon that gave even Ayame, one of the Mythril Musketeers, trouble. And an ahriman, too! This one was much scarier than that one at the Harvest Festival...

Anyway, anyway! That's not even the really bad part! The bad part came after we beat them! That girl from back in San d'Oria showed up and told us the dragon was from way up north where the Shadow Lord was, and that stupid ahriman confirmed it before it died.

N-not to panic, but what are we going to do, what are we going to do? I mean, the Shadow Lord... we can't...

But now's not the time to be scared. Right. We've... we've gotta tell the people in charge first.

...And then see what we could do. S'what Kii woulda done. And it's what Jenare's doing, isn't it? I'm not gonna let him show me up. A-and besides, it's too dangerous. He'll die if I make him do this alone...!