Entry 6

||Current date|| 12/1A/1578/7AE
 
||Current time|| 7 bells past High Moon
 
||Summary|| Recap of the past year - Bastion's disappearance, life after, and a new opportunity.
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It has been a long time since I've felt the urge to open this journal. Half a moon had passed since the last entry, with no contact, before I finally went to the Embassy to check on the others. I was met with an eviction notice on the door and an empty house. I was lucky - my room had been left untouched, so I was able to collect all of my belongings without much issue...aside from the obvious one, a pile of furniture and no room to put it in. I should have known better than to hope my time with them would have lasted, but the suddenness of their disappearance was an unpleasant surprise. I was angry for some time after that. Now, though, all I feel is pity. Whatever it was that caused the collapse of the Bastion must have been a special one of the hells for all involved.
 
I had some gil saved up, so I was able to hire a chocobo porter to bring my belongings back to Mor Dhona. With some convincing and a favor called in, the proprietor of the Seventh Heaven agreed to store my furniture for a time, and now the storeroom for the Sons looks more like a very nicely furnished bedroom...with some extra boxes here and there. The first few moons after the Bastion vanished, I threw myself into my work. The Sons had a remarkably productive year, due in no small part to my willingness to act as guard, guide, or caddy for any bell the day had open for me. Publicly, Rammbroes was proud of his team's accomplishments and sent many missives and crates back to Old Sharlayan full of glowing praise and similarly glowing Allagan artifacts. Privately, he kept me from working whenever he could, whether with affectionate cajoling, threats, misdirection, or outright action, and only relented when it threatened to completely destroy the relationship we'd built together. I'm ashamed to say I did nothing to help with this, but it was a dark time, and I've since made amends.
 
By the time the year was nearly up, I'd recovered from the loss and had resolved to leave the Bastion behind me...when a Moogle nearly barreled into me on my way back to the old Camp Revenant's toll after a long dig. I still remember the little creature's indignance at how far away I lived and how many letters had piled into its paws without me around to deliver them to, and after a thorough tongue lashing, it dumped the pile in my hands and fluttered off. Lo and behold, despite being done with the Bastion, its former members were far from done with me. Altanai, Cherry, Zim, Zototo...all names I recognized. All friends I'd been fond of, friends that had gutted me the most when they vanished with the rest of the Bastion. Friends that...hadn't truly left for good, as it turned out. From their letters, I was able to piece together what happened - the Bastion's leadership had been recalled due to some troubles in the Sea (with lots of entertaining speculation as to why), and those that remained had either done so willingly, or were cut loose with no warning like I was. All of them had been left feeling bitter, like I had. All of them had missed each other...and me. And at the very bottom of the pile, the most recent letter, was addressed to me with a return name I'd never seen...a "Yusugei Dotharl", written in Cherry's handwriting. The letter was similarly odd, asking me to meet her and her partner at The Burning Wall to discuss a business opportunity. Perhaps I should have heeded the alarum bells, but I couldn't resist the thought of seeing them all again. So here I am once more, with my well-loved pack and traveling clothes, deep in the north of Thanalan updating a journal I hadn't touched in a year. I'll have to make good time if I wish to make this meeting on time, but I have faith. I'll make the land rise to meet me if it means seeing them all again.