You? [ —rather than incredulous, the echo is something quite different altogether: awestruck, without a single hint of guile. Sion wonders, then, how he could have possibly missed such a thing, for if Pearl is a gem (and really, her namesake should have given him a clue!), then she is a being of magic. And on that fated day when he'd entered the crypt beneath House Eris, he'd become attuned to the signs, the energies that denoted monsters, spirits, Goddesses, and those bearing a connection to magic all.

(If he closes his eyes and feels for her, he wonders, would he sense a thing?) ]

In my kingdom there are tales, old legends which speak of spirits which house themselves inside of pretty baubles and gems, if only to capture and ensnare their owners as a ghost might possess a human. [ But he waves the thought away in an instant, because that is no more than a legend! It's rubbish (aside from the part where it isn't).] But you are...

[ Glancing down, he studies the sword in his hands, his fingertips running down the flat of the blade. ]

You are you, of course, and I am in your debt. [ Securing the sword in the fabric of the sash gilding his hips, he finds that he cannot help but thank her again, a smile upon his lips and the flat of his palm over his heart to convey the sentiment. ] Should you ever be in need of assistance, be it in battle or otherwise, please do not hesitate to call upon me. I know not how to repay you otherwise.