He climbed his way back up.

On his own, Lito bought and sold, and used his connections and know-how to start making coin once again. It wasn't nearly as profitable as before, but it was only the beginning. Though he wasn't the best at crafting, he still had some of the inventions he had worked on with Ratchet, and knew enough to finish them up. One of the most interesting was a bracelet that could be used to help people over their psychological problems. I used the power of suggestion, like hypnosis, but also the power of magic. It could be used just as easily for terrible things as well, so they never decided on whether or not to actually finish and sell the idea.

It was finished, however, by Lito. Truthfully, he sometimes thought what would happen if he could get on Taya, and not just for his sake, or Ratchet's, but for others that have likely been hurt by her cruelty. With the bracelet, he could take her down in a number of ways, but he tried not to dwell on it.

Sadly, things were getting . Despite this charismatic demeanour, he was dirt poor, and needed something--anything--to boost his sales. As much as he didn't want to resort to dirty tactics, he did have an idea after watching a certain individual that frequented taverns in Divinity's Reach. She was a social butterfly that people were often bothered by, due to her blunt rudeness and high opinion of herself, but unlike Taya, she was never genuinely mean to anyone. That's why that despite people being bothered, people also enjoyed her presence. That's what she had--a powerful presence.

After some digging, he learned her name was Alora Wickerwood, and while she was technically of a noble house, she didn't have a lot of money to her name compared to the rest of them. This wasn't something that was common knowledge, but he did still have some connections. Best of all, she was cute and outgoing. If he could bring her as a model, he could attract customers better than the rest.

So, he did something that did feel dirty, but he couldn't fail. He refused. With his connections, he found her sizes, and made her the perfect costume to wear if she were to accept. It was a huge gamble, but he was getting .

Not only that, but he couldn't help but see Taya in her eyes. He didn't want to admit it, but there was a bias. She was noble, arrogant, and beautiful, just like her. People like her still needed to be brought down a few pegs.

One day, he found her in the Maiden's Whisper tavern. She was garbed in a black outfit with a skirt, which matched well with her neck-length black hair with faded to a deep blue at the ends--the latter also being the colour of her eyes. She was short, but had a great bust, and her legs were slender and hardly covered.

He overheard "asura" but it was thankfully not something hurtful this time. The barkeep was joking that someone as short as one would see her underwear, which wasn't the case, though it wasn't far off. Lito wasn't interested in that anyway, especially not from another species.

It was time to approach.