"You'd let me know if any of those hooligans were eyein' me right?" Aurrie stood a few away from the chair propped against the storage closet while Yalch floated beside her. Both looked at the roaring crowd of Cutthroats as they continued to vie for the front spot in front of the kegs of rum.

"Of course." With his eyes still fixated on the mass bandits, he pointed towards the door. "If anyone notices you, I'll let you know. But you have to go now."

Aurrie darted at the door and held the chair by its back with both hands. She remained focused on removing the stuck piece of furniture while Yalch stayed to his promise.

"It's stuck!" the housekeeper said with a low grunt. "They got it wedged tight!"

The ghost turned around and watched Aurrie struggle with moving the chair from it lopsided position. "I wish I could help. But I can't touch anything! I’d slip right through!"

"And of course, Daego is out like a light! Gettin’ him to help is outta the question." After a grunt, Aurrie took a step back. A short peek over her shoulder revealed that the Cutthroats were still too focused on their festivity to pay her much mind. She turned back to the chair and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess this'll be comin' outta my pay!"

Aurrie raised one foot and with a single, precise motion, stomped on one of the seat's legs. It broke in two with a loud snap, sending bits of wood skidding across the floor. Both her and Yalch quickly turned around to see if the sound drew the attention of the drinking bandits. Their commotion drowned out any noise other than their own.

"Go! Go!"

Aurrie moved the chair just enough to for her to pry the door open. Wood of the chair scraped against the floor, creating a discomforting scraping sound with every inch the door moved. Once the door was ajar just enough for her to squeeze, the housekeeper took one last peek behind at the rowdy mass before squashing herself through the narrow gap.

"Hurry!" Yalch cried. "They're starting to form a line in front of the kegs!"

“Cutthroats actin’ civilized? That can’t be good.” With one final push, Aurrie pushed herself through the door. She stumbled forward into the dark and damp room, only to be caught by Miwah and Tamma before falling face first.

"Gah!" Aurrie blurted out, covering her nose with her hands as Miwah and Tamma steadied her to her feet. "Who knocked over the bucket of mop water?"

"Apologies," Miwah whispered. "It is hard to move around in the dark."

"Yeah, yeah. It happens." Aurrie set herself upright and walked back to the narrow opening in the door and stared out. "Good thing those Cutthroats are too distracted by that Rhoda Rum to even pay attention to the closet."

"You say that now, lass," Tamma began, standing over Aurrie and gazing into the main room herself. "But the entire reason they're celebrating is because they got us trapped in here! The moment one of them notices the door is open, they'll be barging right on through!"

"Fine then." Aurrie grabbed the edge of the door with one hand and pulled it closed. "There. Now they can't see in here." She gave the door a gentle nudge with the palm of her hand. "And we can knock that that thing down with a good shove."

Yalch flew through the door and hovered above the trio of girls. "Aurrie, this is Tamma and Miwah. Miwah and Tamma, meet Aurrie."

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Despite the darkness, Miwah still waved her hand. "Pleasure to meet you," the seamstress said just above a whisper.

"Likewise." Her statement was followed by the sound of her foot tapping against the wet floor, creating small splashes. "Y'all know why I'm here, right? That ghost friend of yours told ya?"

"Oh! Right!" Miwah fumbled around her robe before pulling out the remaining Beacon. "This is for you."

"You notice anything special, Aurrie?" Yalch asked.

The housekeeper froze. She slowly extended one hand at the jewelry dangling from Miwah's fingers. "Yeah," Aurrie murmured. "It's glowin'! I can see it even though everything else is dark."

"Perfect! That means it in tune with you!"

"Must be. I'm still blind as a bat," Tamma remarked. “ I don’t

The necklace exchanged hands. Aurrie held the jewel in the palm of her hand and stared at it with awe. "You girls know how to use this thing?"

"Put it around your neck," Miwah said. "And when you want to transform, just put it over your heart."

"But don't do it just yet!" Tamma exclaimed as loud as she could without drawing attention to the group. "You can only access your Purifier form for a short period of time. So if you use it now, that means you'll have to act now."

Aurrie nodded her head. "Got it. Use my power when I need it most. Any other advice you wanna let me know about?"

"It all depends on the kind of kind of Purifier you become," Miwah said. "You will have a unique element and a weapon to go with it. And a powerful spell."

"You know how to cast Insight, Aurrie?" Yalch asked.

"Naw. Never had to."

"Drat. Well, there's no better way to learn how to do something than to just jump in."

"I'd prefer to do that when lives ain't at stake!" Aurrie groaned with a stomp of her foot. "I can't believe I let Daego talk me into this!"

"You're friends with that scoundrel?" Tamma said with annoyance.

"I know he doesn't leave the best first impression. He definitely didn't when I first met him. But you gotta understand, he was born and raised in this part of town. Poor fella doesn't know what's best for him. That's part of the reason why he thought it was a good idea to try and rescue you girls from the Cutthroats. And that was before I meant your little floating friend."

"What is he doing now?" Miwah whispered. "Can he distract the Cutthroats? That way we could all leave together. Maybe even get our Beacons back!"

Aurrie lowered and shook her head. "Don't think Daego won't be doin' much of anything for a while. He had himself a bit too much of that Rhoda Rum. Last I saw, he was takin' a nap on at the bar."

"If you ask me, that's for the best," Tamma said snarkily. "Don't want him getting in the way and getting us in trouble too."

"Either way, it doesn't matter. The only people that are gonna get us out of this mess are inside this very room."

Another moment of quietude encompassed the storage room as all four contemplated what to do next. After a bit of sighing and pacing, Yalch broke the silence. "Aurrie won't draw any attention if she comes out," the ghost said. "She can try to deal with some of the Cutthroats."

"The tall one has our necklaces," Miwah added. "If you could somehow get him to surrender them, we could assist you in dealing with the remainder of the gang."

"I'm all for any plan that involves giving Wystan what he's got comin' to him!" Aurrie punched the palm of her hand. "He's always causin' trouble here. And I'm the one that's gotta clean up all his messes!"

"Perfect. Sounds like the start of a plan to me," Tamma said. "Yalch. You'll have to let us know when it's safe for us to come out."

"You got it!"

"How drunk do you think they are now?" Miwah asked. "Xiwaoans do not drink much alcohol. I have no idea how potent your rum is."

"You're from Xiwao?" Aurrie said with a bit of shock. "I shoulda known from that accent. Ya gotta have a lot of confidence to be walkin' around Farrowport as a Xiwaoan during this time."

"It actually has not been that bad."

"We can get to know each other later," Tamma interrupted. "Maybe once we're actually out of the clutches of the Cutthroats."

"Oh right. My apologies."

"Back to the question ya asked first. Rhoda Rum asks fast. Daego went down after just two drinks. And last I checked; Wystan was all woozy. Seein' as how the rest of the gang is scrawny compared to their leader, I give 'em a few minutes before they're all staggerin' around or passed out cold on the floor."

Tamma stepped Aurrie and put her ear by the door. "I don't know about that, lass. The noise is still going strong. Sounds to me the Cutthroats know how to hold their drinks." Miwah and Aurrie stood by Tamma and listened to the noise coming from the dining area. The bandits continued their party unabashed, shouting and laughing as loud as they could.

"Give 'em a few minutes," Aurrie said. "They won't be makin' noise for much longer."