A faint smell of berries rose from the glass in Thalia’s fingers. She swirled it around, watching the droplets slowly run down the sides of the glass. She took another sniff, working out the smell in her head. It was sweet, that was for certain, but that faint scent of alcohol made her nervous. Neither Josephi nor Amelia ever really drank, and her parents had been strictly against it in her childhood. She hesitated, looking up at her friends briefly.

Micah had ordered some sort of imperial ale, and the thin foam from the light amber drink clung to his facial hair as he joked with Hale, who drank a much darker beer. It was almost black, like coffee, which was supposedly a main ingredient. Seek went for some kind of apple cider, but was clearly mentally engaged watching the other patrons in the tavern.

Thalia took a slow sip, letting the flavor linger on her tongue. Something about its taste reminded her of Novateria, specifically the berries she’d gather for Amelia’s cobbler. A pang of nostalgia hit her in the chest like a ton of bricks when the memory of starting the fire at the homestead welled up. Micah broke the silence, asking her, “So, how is it? Any good?”

“Very, it reminds me a lot of home,” Thalia said with a soft smile.

He smiled back, but before Thalia could ask him about his drink, a hand grabbed her shoulder.

“So, you’re the prodigy, huh? Pulled some strings, skipped the test?”

The slender, black half dragon squeezed his grip on Thalia’s shoulder. She froze, running through her head what might happen next. She reached out to the shadows across the floor, planning her way out of this.

“Hey man, leave us alone, we’re just hanging out.” Micah’s voice had a new, threatening tone.

“Leave you alone? What if I want a little taste of Miss Prodigy? Maybe we should make you prove yourself to everyone, right here,” the half-dragon threatened.

Thalia focused, the stabbing pain of the half-dragon’s claws in her shoulder slowly building a panic in her. Behind the rogue, his party stood at the ready with their hands on their weapons. Micah prayed quietly while slipping into a divine trance. Seek hadn’t moved yet, but their eyes darted between each of the figures behind the half dragon with a calculating glare.

For just a few moments, no one dared speak, no one dared move. All eyes were on them, and what kind of fight would erupt at their table. A booming voice cut the tension, resonating with a thousand echoes.

“How dare you.”

No one could quite tell its origin before it bellowed out again.

“You come to our school.”

The crowd around the two parties murmured in a soft whisper Thalia couldn’t pick any words out of.

“You insult its heritage.”

A woman around Thalia’s age pushed through the crowd. Her cherry red bob seemed familiar to Thalia, with a short scarlet dress and thigh high riding boots, hemmed with daggers in their holsters. Every step let out a soft click as her heels tapped the cold stone floor.

“Do you really believe this school to be so corrupt, Rolk?”

The half dragon snarled at the newcomer, tightening his grip on Thalia’s shoulder briefly before letting go. She could feel a little trickle of liquid down her shoulder. The red-haired woman held her hand up, a faint red energy emanating from her hands.

“Stay out of this, Bell. You’ve the same pedigree, what with you-”

His voice cut off as red ethereal fingers covered his mouth, absorbing all sound.

“I can’t believe you, coming in here, attacking a fellow student,” interrupted Bell.

Rolk’s party mates reached for their weapons. Thalia took a deep breath, guiding inky black tendrils across the floor, sliding through the cracks on the floor towards them. Their weapons clung to their bodies, unable to be drawn. Hale jumped forward in one swift motion, tackling Rolk and rolling to heave him over her shoulder. As his friends struggled, Micah whispered out a prayer while holding out his hand to draw a sigil. The room took on a faint golden glow, easing the tension of the tavern. Hale carried Rolk out the front door, dropping him on the footpath outside. Seek clasped their daggers back in their holsters, returning to their drink with a soft laugh. Micah’s eyes had a faint golden glow to them until the other party left to tend to their friend, completely uninterested in starting a fight. Hale sat back down at the table with a huff, knocking back half her drink in a big gulp.

“Thalia, you alright?” Hale asked, wearing a worried expression as she looked at her friend. She put a friendly hand on her shoulder that sent stinging pain down Thalia’s back as the adrenaline eased back. The rip in her skin burned, bringing her hand to cover it. As the scarlet clad girl walked away, Thalia cleared her throat.

“Thanks, for the help.”

Bell rolled her eyes before replying, “They insulted the ground we walk on, so I took action.”

The clicks of her heels punctuated her words, leaving the party quiet at the table. Micah finished off his beer, staring at the ceiling.

He groaned, “Devils above, what a group of dicks, yeah?”

His cheeky smile faded quick when he noticed the dark trickle of red leaking down Thalia’s wrist.

“Oh shit- Hey, you good?”

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She gave him a nod, wincing as she reached for her drink.

“Uh… Shit, does…”

Before Thalia could finish, Hale dipped her fingers in the wine, reciting a few words of an old tongue. Her gentle hand dwarfed Thalia’s as she pulled it away, rubbing the glowing wine across her wound.

“Here, it’ll help it out. Might scar a bit, but it won’t bleed.”

Thalia’s shoulder pain faded. Hale’s bother was plain on her face, showing her own thoughts racing to figure out what she could do to help.

“Hey, where’s Seek?” asked Thalia.

Micah looking around, their small friend wasn’t in their seat. They were over at the recently abandoned table, squatting in the booth and having their way with the food left behind and rummaging through their things. The site just broke all the tension, erupting in a laugh.

“What?”

Seek looked puzzled, like a dog in trouble.

“They left it!”

The half-elf slunk back over with pockets full of biscuits to return to their drink. Thalia’s eyes kept scanning the crowd for the sorcerer, hoping to thank her more properly. Micah nudged her out of it with a question.

“So, how’s the wine? I know it’s no Vintage, but it’s a new import from the highlands of Novateria! Thought you could use a taste of home.”

She laughed, “Yeah, it’s… comfortable. Reminds me a little too much of home, honestly.”

Staring down into the red pool at the bottom of the glass, she could almost see her aunt busy at the oven in the reflection. She shook it off, choosing to enjoy the rest of the night rather than dwell on the past.

“How’s your drink, Micah?”

He laughed, waving for a worker to come by.

“Same as yours, it’s a Solacean Imperial Ale. We didn’t have too many fancy drinks, and the whiskey always left me dry. This is just what we always drank, nice, light, and just bubbly enough to help fight the alcohol in it.”

One of the tavern’s folk came by, dropping off another pint to him.

“Always liked it when dad’d let me have a sip.”

“Oh! You drank as a kiddo too?” Hale chimed in, finishing her inky black drink. “Love this stuff, well - not like, in a bad way - it’s just real good at cuttin’ tension. The coffee for me helps fix that gut rot, keeping me just awake enough to not get all dizzy. Lemme try yours.” She reached across the table, taking a sip of Micah’s ale before he could get the first one in.

“Oh, nice and… I think it’s hoppy? That’s the right word, yeah?”

Micah choked out a laugh and covered his face. “Glad we’re good friends already.”

Thalia felt warm with her new friends, watching the little rude exchange. Her eyes stopped on Seek, who seemed fairly on edge. Their eyes were darting around to every little motion in the room, following everyone who walked in the realm of nearing the table.

“Hey, Seek, you alright?” she asked.

Hearing their name snapped them out of their trance.

“Yeah, on edge.” Their words were short, timid.

“What’s got you so on edge, bud?” Micah added.

“Just too much.”

Their ears flicked at the clink of some mugs.

“It’s getting late, we should go try some desert, maybe? I’ve got a good recipe I learned back home we could try!” suggested Thalia, hoping to pay them all back for the help somehow.

Micah and Hale clued in, sensing the worry and anxiety at the table.

“Right, it is getting late now, we should get going!”

Micah stood up first and grabbed his mug to go. Thalia followed up, debating leaving her glass of wine behind. With Seek in tow, the three of them left the tavern for fresh air while Hale settled out the tab.

“Man, it gets cold out here quick. That’ll take getting used to…” Micah brought his arm over his chest to keep his warmth, taking another swig of his drink.

“Do… Do you not have warm clothes?” Thalia was used to feet of snow, this was nothing to her, but she knew how important thick cloth was to stay warm.

“Nah. Didn’t need it, the fishing village was always nice and… not this.” He wiped some foam off his mustache. “How was I supposed to know mountains got cold?” Thalia laughed with him at his joke, pulling her arms into the sleeves of her dress as a breeze rolled through.

“You’re gonna freeze when it’s winter, then,” she said.

“Seren be damned, it gets colder?”

Hale came out swaying with a bag in her grip, leaning on Micah’s shoulder with a laugh.

“Oh boy, you’re gonna die.”

She held the bag out to Thalia, who took it without asking questions.

“As skinny as you are, you’d better dress like our resident witch before we get a Micah-sicle to carry around classes.” Hale elbowed his ribs with a hearty laugh. “We’ll have to get you covered, at least. Don’t sweat it. Anyway, Thalia, what’s on the menu?”

The four started off back home, with Seek relaxing more every step away from the Tavern they took.

“An old cobbler recipe I learned from a village of hekath not far from the homestead.”

“He’kath?” Micah asked, not trying to hide his interest.

“Oh right, they’re Novaterians. Kinda like… I guess the best way I could put it is… dog… bear… people? Kind of, but not? Strong, hardy, trustworthy. Whatever we couldn’t handle on the homestead, they were always willing to help with. Hells above, I’d even watch over their cubs during festivals. They’re a lively folk.”

Hale burped, chiming in, “Gods, I wanna meet ‘em. Love dogs, love bears, and love people.”

“Hale, you’re drunk,” Micah suggested.

“Nah,” she slurred.

They made their way back home, Micah easing Hale into a seat. Thalia gathered the flour and oil. She started mixing dough while waiting for the oil to come to heat.

“So, what’s everyone’s first class?” Micah asked, trying to keep Hale upright.

“I’ve got ‘Introduction to Magical Fundamentals’ coming up, I’m… excited, honestly,” Thalia answered. She was genuinely excited, there were some gaps in her lessons with Amelia she was eager to fill. A crash rang out from the larder. She rushed over to check it, a blur of shadow in Micah’s eyes as her hand held a pale green energy.

“Oh- What’re- Seek, you okay?”

She immediately relaxed, crouching to help them up.

“Hale put the coffee too high, had to climb.”

She took a deep breath and let out a long sigh.

“Seek, if you drink coffee too late in the night, you won’t sleep.”

“What?” they asked, confusion in their eyes.

“Yeah, it… fills you with energy, and you get all jittery and can’t shake it off,” Micah added.

“And you just sit on edge and can’t sleep. Don’t… Don’t worry about picking it up, I’ve got it.” Thalia helped them from the larder, letting tendrils of shadow tidy the space back up behind her.

“Hey, I gotta ask, Thalia, why are you taking an intro class if you can… Well, you look capable, you know?” Micah asked, just hoping to keep a conversation up as Hale fell asleep slumped against him.

“Oh, there’s always something to learn.” She added a few chocolate berries to the dough before kneading it out. “Besides, I think I missed a few gaps in my lessons. There’s a lot I don’t know, yet.”

Seek rested their chin at the table before letting out a yawn.

“I’m taking Bushcraft. Same reasons.”

Micah nodded, adding his own yawn. “I’m taking something risky, I’d love to learn more about swordplay, so I’m taking Introduction to Fencing. Always thought it’d be handy to be good with a sword.”

Thalia perked up. “Oh, what time?”

“Should be uh… Somewhere after ten, I think,” he responded.

“Huh, I’ve got that class too, actually. Paps always told me I was skinny enough to try a sword, as much as auntie wanted me to stick to magic.” She dropped a few balls of dough into the oil, immediately filling the room with a sweet, pleasant smell. “No early classes for you?”

Micah laughed, saying, “Nah, gotta get my stretches and wake up before I do any learning. Besides, gotta keep up the faith, sunrise is big for Sol’s faithful.”

Thalia froze for a moment, biting her lip. She swallowed back a memory before laughing nervously.

“Yeah, I’ve heard.”