After I left my apartment, I started walking through the city streets.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was walking to. I kept moving for the sake of moving, without a goal or direction. As I walked, I felt the frustration and anxiety start to bleed out of my heart. I wasn't... happy about what had happened. But at the very least, I was starting to calm down and think clearly again.

I sighed, and realized I had something I needed to do. Something that would eat at me until I made it right.

My conversation with Sallia hadn’t gone well. And now that I had a bit of time to cool off, I realized that was my fault. I had gotten too heated and let my frustrations get the better of me.

I still stood by my sentiments during the argument I’d had with Sallia earlier. I didn’t think it was right for close friends or family to abandon each other.

But I also didn’t think that Sallia was wrong. If I kept trying to help my mother, and she ruined my attempts at helping, it would be awful for me mentally. Sallia had been trying to point that out, and at the end of the day, and I had ignored her advice because I didn't like it. But that wasn't a good way to treat my friend, especially since I had asked her for advice in the first place. It wasn’t right for me to ask her for advice, and then yell at her because I didn’t like what she said.

So I contacted Sallia. If I did something wrong, I needed to apologize first.

I said.

I felt Sallia’s mind push back against mine from the other side of the communication bracelet. Luckily, she was still awake. It seemed like it was one of the better days for her. She sent me a wave of reassurance and comfort.

I relaxed slightly. It didn’t seem like Sallia was angry, at least. Of course, that didn’t mean I would just forget about how I had acted. I wanted my friends to derive the same comfort from me that I got from them. Yelling at them when they were trying to help me wasn’t the right way to do that. I needed to do better in the future.

she said. I blinked. I... wasn't sure if I agreed with Sallia's assessment. Before I could say anything else, Sallia continued speaking.

she asked.

I felt a wave of guilt as I said that. In a way, it felt like I was abandoning my mother to her own devices. I knew that she was likely going to suffer a lot without my healing magic. I knew that she might die, or even go back to selling her body to fuel her addiction. Even though I was frustrated, I still didn't really want to abandon my mother. She was family, and I could still go back and try to work things -

said Sallia.

My first instinct was to argue. To say that I could still help her, even if she kept making bad decisions.

But I took a deep breath.

I had just resolved to listen to my friends, even when I thought they were wrong.

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That didn’t mean I could never disagree with them… but it meant I needed to listen to them and think about their words.

said Sallia.

I didn’t like Sallia’s words. Sallia's words were harsh, and I wasn't sure if I agreed completely with them.

But I knew, deep down, that at least some of Sallia’s words were right. If my mother didn’t want to get better, nothing I did would actually stop her. I couldn’t lock her in a metal room to prevent her from taking drugs for the rest of her life. That was unrealistic. It was also obvious that without extreme measures, there was no way to prevent her from getting more drugs. I couldn't monitor her every second of every day. If she wanted drugs, I had no good way to stop her.

I said.

said Sallia.

I realized Sallia was trying to help me de-stress, and rolled my eyes. But I still did as Sallia requested. I started making my way towards a secluded spot outside of town. During my aimless wandering, I had already gotten close to the wilderness. It took me less than fifteen minutes to reach a little field of flowers that looked uninhabited.

Then, I started to sing for Sallia. I spent a full hour going from one song to another as I showed Sallia the fruits of my effort. While I wasn’t at the standard of a professional singer, I had still spent a lot of sweat and effort to learn how to sing.

The first song was one that I had been preparing for Anise. It was a heroic ballad about a witch saving a village from a group of bandits.

Of course, the original song had been about a knight saving a village from bandits. But I figured Anise would appreciate it if the main character of the song was a witch instead, so I had swapped out a bunch of the lyrics. It had taken a lot of time to replace so many parts of the song without changing the rhythm, but I thought Anise would like it.

Then, I sang a different song. This one was an introspective song, about the way that society and morality were changing with the times. It had caught my fancy when I first heard it, and I had also figured Felix would get a kick out of it.

Then, I followed up with a different song, one that traced its roots all the way back to the Zelyrian empire. The song spoke of a flight across the stars, from one dimension to another to escape an angry, flaming giant. Since the song had originally been Zelyrian, some of the lyrics had been translated. Still, the song held up surprisingly well.

Then, I followed up with a song about two swordsmen dueling each other. I had prepared this one for Sallia. It was a song that focused on a battle between a knight and a baron. At the end of the fight, the knight learned that the baron had been his uncle... but only after his blade killed the other combatant.

Song after song, I kept singing until my throat started to feel raw and sore. Meanwhile, Sallia played the role of an enthusiastic audience member, giving me a little round of applause and cheers in between each song.

I blushed.

Then, Sallia stifled a yawn. Sallia's voice trailed off as she grew sleepier. After a few more moments, her voice faded away completely. I felt a smile spread across my face as I relaxed.

It wasn’t what I had expected to do after apologizing to Sallia. I had expected her to be mad, or tell me to improve, or... something. Instead, I'd had a nice day singing for her. Part of me knew that Sallia had made me sing as a way to help me relax... and it had worked. I felt a bit better about the situation than before.

I was still frustrated and upset. My mother returning to drugs made me feel like I was about to lose my mind out of frustration. But I felt better than before. Which meant I needed to do a few final things. I had left my apartment because I was frustrated and angry. Now, it was time to figure out what the future would look like.

And so, I headed towards Old Mo's bakery. I needed a few final pieces of advice.