27th of Cobre, 6:34pm, 1659

The setting sun's light had already waned to a dim light by the time Lenoria woke from her slumber.

The dorms were roomy enough to fit ten beds in each room with plenty of space between them. She and Alistair had stumbled inside the lodge after meeting with the Sheriff, and they both immediately passed out as soon as they lied on the beds in their respective rooms. Lisa was awake when she arrived because she was unable to sleep, so Lenoria recapped what had happened as if reading her a bedtime story to help her sleep. Once Lisa was fast asleep, Lenoria plopped down on her own bed and fell asleep within seconds. She could eventually hear the girls moving about in her sleep, but she was so tired that she didn't bother stirring herself awake. For a moment, she dreamt lucidly until she fell deeper into slumber.

Lenoria was the last of the girls to rise from her bed and left the room to wander into the dining area. A simple wooden counter separated the dining section from the kitchen, the former where she spotted Joanna brushing Lisa's hair while in the latter section Clara wore a white apron that had been smudged by the pork she was chopping.

"Morning," Lenoria yawned.

Joanna held a hairpin with her teeth. "It'shh...almosht ee-ning."

"Good evening, Miss Lenoria," Lisa greeted.

"Hehehe, no need to be so polite. Just call me Lenoria."

"S-sorry. Miss Eleanor always said we should greet grownups with Miss or Mister."

"Ah. Right..." It was hard to bring up Eleanor without remembering the circumstances that brought Lisa into their lives. "She was raising you properly, but we're not that old. Just call us by our names; we're all friends here!"

"We are?"

"Yeah! And what do friends do? We look out for each other!" Lenoria grinned. "So come to us if you're ever in trouble, okay?"

"O-okay..." Lisa smiled from ear to ear. She seemed content when Lenoria entered the room, so her smile definitely came from something Lenoria said.

"Yo, Clara! I thought Al was cooking dinner!"

Clara set down the cleaver she had been using. "It would be rude to wake him up after the night he had, so I let him sleep in."

Disappointed, Lenoria lowered her head and sat down on a wooden chair, her chin resting on the back of it. "Awww. He promised he'd make lunch and dinner..."

"Lucky for you, he set the ingredients behind this counter before he went to bed." Clara picked up the cleaver again. "Why don't you take a bath? I'll call you down when dinner's ready, and I'll wake him up, so he doesn't miss it."

This was an example of two friends who always looked out for each other. "Thanks, Clara. I could use a warm bath, actually."

"Yup, just go back to the dorm and go to the other door." Satisfied with the work she did on Lisa's hair, Joanna looked back at Lenoria. "The baths here don't have decanters that flow endlessly like the ones in Hammer's Reach, so I filled the tub for you with my powers. You'll need some fire to warm it up, though."

"I can handle the fire. Thanks, you two!" With that said, Lenoria went back to the dorm room, grabbed some clothes from her bag of holding, and opened a door on the northern wall. The only source of light was the setting sun, and it wouldn't be long until night fell completely.

A single wooden tub was raised on a platform similar to a table, except that the legs were about a foot in height. Burnt wood on the ground below the tub indicated previous usage, and there was a stack of firewood on the corner in case Lenoria needed more.

"I see. You preheat the tub until the water reaches the desired temperature." She reached into one of the pockets of her duster and pulled her Soulstone out of it. "Owen, are you there?"

"I'm here!" The scruffy boy appeared out of nowhere, but Lenoria wasn't spooked after she witnessed Pearl do it so often. "What do you need?"

"Could you light a fire on the firewood over there?" She pointed at the wood under the tub.

"Not a problem!" Clapping his hands twice, Owen successfully conjured a flame on the firewood. To Lenoria's surprise, the fire didn't grow in height but rather spread over the firewood while staying low. Because of this, the room wasn't brightened by much, but it was enough to allow the girl to see the rest of the room more clearly.

"Thanks, Owen."

"You're welcome. Call me again if you need me." The boy disappeared as early as he had arrived.

Waiting some time for the water to heat up, Lenoria eventually turned off the fire with a splash of water before stripping. She dipped her toes first to avoid shocking her body with the sudden change in temperature before sitting down so that the water level was all the way up to her shoulders. "Ahhhh."

The round tub was spacious enough for her to stretch her legs all the way to the opposite end with some room left to spare. Her shoulders sank until only her head was visible above the water, getting a view out the window on the opposite side of the bathroom. After traveling for so long and sleeping from morning to late afternoon, her aching muscles welcomed the warm water like a friend who had been absent for months. It would be a while before Clara would call her for dinner, and with the sunlight fading away with each passing second, Lenoria opted to keep a mental note of where the door was in case it got too dark to see when she got out of the tub. With all the meditating she wanted to do, she was going to be here a while.

"Cepheus, Cassiopeia, Demetrio, Lisa..." So much had happened since she crossed the border. "Alistair..." But her mind was primarily on her beloved.

Now that they were in Goodsprings, she had to get started on Gabrielle's commission; all while hunting the Soulstones Pearl had asked her to locate. She could just focus more on her job, but after the enemies she bumped into over the past twenty-four hours, she wondered if postponing the treasure hunt any further would be a good idea.

She would have to ask Pearl later for her input. For now, Lenoria just wanted to relax and think on what she could do right at that moment. Relocating Lisa was her number one priority; if Demetrio showed up at any point during their stay, they would risk blowing their cover if he ever spotted her. She would have to return to Norwich and find out who Lisa's parents were. After that, it was a matter of tracking down family names and narrow down potential relatives.

First order of business, however, was help Lisa with her mobility handicap. Demetrio's men destroyed her mobility chair, and eventually it would get tiresome to carry her everywhere. With a new chair, Lisa would get the exercise she needed.

"We'll need adamantine for this. If I'm going to make a chair, it would have to be indestructible, or at least close enough."

***

7:24pm

After applying soap and spending enough time in the tub, Lenoria came out of the water and rinsed herself with a pail of water she found nearby. After drying herself off, she dressed herself with a yellow kimono and wrapped a towel around her hair.

She heard laughter coming from the dining area. Her friends spoke to someone with a manly voice, one she instantly recognized. "Al!"

Lenoria was able to tell Alistair was being argumentative; she could hear him protesting about something while her friends were laughing as if they were dismissing whatever his concerns were. She opened the door connected to the dining area a little so she could eavesdrop without them spotting her.

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"I insist, you've done more than enough, Miss-" Joanna and Clara had grabbed Alistair's arms and escorted him to one of the tables. The boy's hair was wet, and he was wearing a new set of clothes. It looked like he had the same idea about taking a bath right after he woke up.

"You stay right where you are, Alistair." The sounds of a sizzling frying pan drew Clara's attention back to the kitchen. She dashed away, opened the counter to let herself in, and closed the flap behind her before flipping the chopped pork.

"That smells good..." Lenoria wanted to come out now, but her instincts begged her to wait a little longer.

"Miss Clara, I appreciate the thought, but there are things we need to talk about before-" A spoonful of rice interrupted Alistair, making the rest of his sentence a jumbled and muffled mess.

"Lighten up, will ya? You're the only guy I've met who'd see the downside of having three pretty girls under the same roof." Joanna retracted the spoon and placed it back on a plate. "Besides, it's better to talk about ongoing problems after you've eaten something. Don't you agree?"

Tasting the rice, Alistair quietly chewed his food and swallowed before speaking again. "Fine. It would be better to speak our minds with everyone here. Where's Lenoria?"

"Taking a bath," Clara yelled from the kitchen. "Have a seat. It shouldn't be long before she's done."

Lenoria exhaled with relief. It was nice to have reasonable people in her party. She'd rather not talk about the elephant in the room, at least not until after dinner. Unable to wait any longer, she stepped out with a loud "Hey, everyone!" Her eyes eventually locked with Alistair's, and both of them blushed when they did. "H-hi..."

"Hey..." The paladin awkwardly faked a cough. "You, um, you look great tonight."

"Thanks. You, too..."

Both of them laughed awkwardly, though their laughter was eclipsed by someone else's. They glanced over at one of the tables to find the elephant in the room holding her stomach as she laughed and laughed. She was reading a book, 'A Paladin's Pun Book,' getting a chuckle out of Lenoria.

It appeared that the issue needed to be addressed, after all.

"Hey, Al. This is Lisa. Lisa, this is my knight in shining armor."

Alistair chuckled before shaking Lisa's hand. "Nice to meet you, Lisa. And don't mind her, I'm not actually a knight."

"Just take the compliment, will ya?"

Lisa's laughter gradually calmed down as she eagerly shook Alistair's hand. "N-nice to meet you, Alistair. Everyone said nice things about you!"

"Really?" Alistair was suddenly curious. "What did they say?"

"Clara said you took down a demon, Joanna said you slayed a giant, and Lenoria said you destroyed a horde of undead!" Lisa beamed. "Mr. Alistair, did you die?"

A raven's croak rang out of nowhere as Poe came in through an open window and sat on Lenoria's head. The girl grinned innocently, scratching the back of her head.

"Sorry," Lenoria said to a bewildered Alistair, "I may have taken some liberties when telling that story."

Alistair sat down across the table from Lisa. "No, I didn't," he said with a smile. "But I might have been if it wasn't for them."

"It all happened so suddenly, but I'm glad we made it out." Joanna pulled up a chair and sat next to Lisa. "You're pretty calm, you know. You were so brave, too. We had no idea how we we'd do against that big bully, but you kept your cool throughout the whole thing."

Lisa stared at the ground. "W-well, Miss Eleanor said we always have to stay calm. Soldiers are always barging into people's houses, and she said that the more you behave, the quicker they'd leave."

Soldiers? Lenoria wondered if that happened everywhere in Thule, settlements exclusive to Demetrio"s domain, or just in Norwich.

"I know one thing for sure: We can't return her to Norwich," Alistair said. "It's likely Lord Demetrio left some of his men there in case any of you returned. If the worst came to pass, then all of our efforts would go up in smoke."

"About that..." Lenoria squeezed one of Alistair's hands. "I'm sorry. I could tell you were pretty mad before me and the girls left Norwich. I just couldn't think of anything else..."

"Please, don't," the boy said reassuringly. "I was hoping to talk the Count down, yet it seemed he was already set in making an example out of someone. We could not save Eleanor, but your idea ended up saving everyone else." Alistair bowed his head. "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I feared that we were doing the wrong thing, but the Hammer never left my side. Given the circumstances, even he believes you did the right thing."

Lisa's eyes beamed again. "Are you sure? Are my friends safe?"

Not knowing what to say, Alistair shifted his gaze to Lenoria. The girl knew exactly what to do, and exactly who to call. "Pearl."

"You have nothing to worry about. I can still sense the Pyxis Soulstone and its wielder. They're far away, but they're safe."

Which must mean Caesar and everyone else were safe. A pirate he may be, but she believed he wouldn't let anything happen to the children.

"Thanks to my awesome powers, I can safely say that they're safe. So, chin up, Lisa! We'll see them again."

This piece of news was enough to make Lisa's eyes well up with tears. "They're safe..."

"Food's done!" Clara's announcement could not have come at a better time. "Alistair, would you mind mashing the avocado?"

"Not at all, Miss Clara." Alistair made his way to the counter to prepare the avocado side. Everyone else observed with anticipation, ready to put the subject behind them.

***

Dinner was delicious.

The homemade pork tacos with a side of rice and mushed avocado hit the spot, and everyone chatted away long after dinner was finished. With the night still young, Lisa had plenty of energy left.

"I want to go outside! Can we see the stars, pretty please?"

Clara nodded. "Tsukuyomi, would you mind taking Lisa outside for a little while?"

Tsukuyomi nodded and waited for Lisa to raise her arms before picking her up. The girl giggled as the eidolon sat her on his right arm before using the left to open the door.

"Hey, can you run a lap around the lodge? I want to see how fast you can go!"

Tsukuyomi's eyes met with his mistress's, not wanting to ruin the moment but also withholding any action that could be met with disapproval.

"Fine." Clara did not take long to give in. "But don't stray too far. You haven't been fully repaired, Tsukuyomi, and your condition could worsen if you leave the area. You two have fun," she finished with a smile.

"Yay! Let's run around until you get tired!" Lisa laughed as Tsukuyomi finally went outside and closed the door behind him. The rest of the group could hear Lisa's muffled yet unceasing laughter circling outside the building.

Clara chuckled. Lisa's laughter appeared to be contagious. "Robotic eidolons have endless stamina, so they'll be running around for a while."

"Why don't you all go outside? I can handle the dishes," Lenoria suggested. "You've handled the day well, and I just woke up. Go play with Lisa."

"I'll help," Alistair offered. "We can knock things out faster if I help."

"But the dishwashing basin is so small, why do you need two pe-" Clara covered Joanna's mouth and dragged her outside.

"Don't mind her. Have fun, you two." Clara winked at the couple before closing the door shut behind her, leaving Alistair and Lenoria to handle the dishes. The two of them piled the dirty dishes on one side of a small porcelain basin, which had been loaded with soapy water, and got to work.

"I'll wash them, and you dry them," Lenoria decided.

"I haven't done anything all day. Please allow me to handle everything," Alistair insisted.

"You were so close to becoming zombie chow earlier, Al. I don't think I would be happy with myself if I just let you take care of the housework." With unrelenting determination, Lenoria tied an apron around herself. "Besides, it's common for a housewife to take care of the dishes."

Alistair nearly dropped the wooden plate he was holding. "I-it's a little early to talk about marriage, don't y-you think?"

"I don't think so. I mean, that would be the case if we saw each other, like, once a week. But I've bonded with you these past two weeks more than I have with any man in my life." Lenoria smirked. "Besides, you've been engaged before. What's the big deal?"

Paying no mind to Alistair's silence, Lenoria whistled happily as she moved on to the dishes. She started on the closest stack by grabbing the top wooden plate, scrubbing away the pork juice and leftover avocado, rinsed it, and wiped it clean before starting on another. After scrubbing that plate and a couple of spoons, she looked over at Alistair who, to her surprise, seemed unresponsive.

"Al?"

"Sorry, it's just...you caught me off-guard." He sighed. "You've heard, then?"

"Heard what?" Lenoria set a spoon on the basin and looked over at Alistair curiously. "About you being engaged? A bunch of people in Norwich were mumbling about that, actually. It was hard to miss."

"I'm sorry. It's not like I wanted to hide it from you. It was just...hard to say."

"Don't apologize. It's not like I've told you about my past. I don't think I ever needed to, so you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"But I've been wanting to tell you. I've wanted to tell you for a while, actually..."

And just like that, the young girl had an idea. She respected Alistair's privacy, but she was actually more curious than she was letting on.

"How about this? Would you feel better if I told you about my past? It would be a lot better if we learned more about ourselves, and if your situation is hard to say, then that means you really haven't told a lot of people, have you?"

"No," Alistair said weakly.

"Then we should sit down and talk about it. I can't imagine holding something in for a long time." After removing her apron, Lenoria grabbed Alistair's hand and led him to one of the round dinner tables. "Forget the dishes. I think we should take care of this now."

After one deep breath, Alistair nodded. "You're right. I admit I have been curious about you, too, but it would be hypocritical to ask if I wasn't willing to tell you the same thing about myself..."

"No worries. Let me tell you about Carter first, then you can say what's on your mind."