Walking along the street, Norbert made his way to the casino, seeing everyone around him slowly leaving the streets and heading back to their homes for the night, the streets slowly emptying again. Obsius on his shoulder as he lowered his head while walking through the streets, seeing which section was hit with the explosion and flames before.

The bag securely on his back as he walked through the streets, mask inside with the medical supplies he might have needed to use. He smelled the air as it blew against his face, his hair going into his eyes. Taking a strand and pulling it, unsatisfied with the amount of length it had. Adding it to his list of things to do here was cutting his hair; even if he had to do it himself, the hair, at this point, was just distracting him more than anything.

As he navigated through the streets, going faster, the longer he stayed there, the emptier they became. Norbert happy not to see any guards patrolling around, wondering where they would have been but not wanting to have any encounters tonight.

As he followed through, the smell of smoke was more pungent the closer he made his way to the casino. Turning a street corner, he stopped and stared, not believing what he saw. The once pristine building made of glass was gone, only rubble in its place.

Stopping, Norbert just stared, seeing the place teeming with guards around the city investigating the rubble. Now realising where the guards were all this time, investigating the explosion, Norbert stepped back quickly, being consumed by the shadows before being spotted.

Several blocks away, Norbert took his mask out of his backpack, staring at it, wondering if it had been worth it. How much damage did he cause for what seemed like nothing? Putting the mask back, not wanting to get caught, as that would cap his night off, Norbert roamed the streets, following his nose as he looked down at the ground.

***

His feet bumped into something, nearly causing him to trip; leaning forward, his knee banged into whatever hit his foot as he finally tripped, tumbled forward, splashing into water. Feet in the air, Norbert looked around, wondering where he was at. Staring up, a drop of water fell on his forehead.

He was wiping it away as he focused on what was looming above him. There, he saw the statue of Lady Luck above him, the jug dripping water on his head. Another droplet of water landed on his face as he sat up, moving his legs around so he was standing in the fountain.

Looking down at himself, feeling like a wet dog, Norbert shook himself, trying to dry himself as best he could. Shivering in the cool night air, Norbert flapped his garments, looking around and seeing that nobody saw him fall. Stepping back, Norbert sat down again on the rim of the stone fountain.

Running his hand over the edge, the smooth stone as he cupped his fingers around, feeling them dance over the floral design on the front of it. Bringing his hand back to himself, he lifted it; only his index finger touching the stone as he lazily drew circles.

"Guess that's why it wouldn't matter what I did. The major impact was that the casino, not at the docks. I had no chance to make it there to stop it. Doesn't it get annoying when you know it's going to happen but cannot change it?" Norbert asked the statue.

A single mote of light appeared. Norbert nodded to it as he confirmed his words. Groaning in frustration, Norbert spun around, lying on the fountain edge, one foot on either side. His backpack by his side, Norbert looked up at the sky, watching the clouds pass ahead.

Closing his eyes, he felt someone pick his head up, only to put it down on something soft. Opening his eyes, staring at Luck's smiling face, a look of pain in her eyes as she saw him. Opening his mouth, he kept it there, jaw quivering as he thought about what to say.

Watching her hand come down on his face as she caressed it with a hand, it went over the bottom of his jaw and closed it for him. Norbert let her close it without resistance as he stared back at her. His eyelids becoming heavy, he tried to fight them, the energy he expended earlier in the night catching up with him as he finally gave in and closed his eyes, the warmth of the person underneath him radiating up.

***

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The sun shone in his eyes as someone nudged him awake. Squinting, Norbert looked around, seeing it was one of the priests from one of the temples. Holding his hand over his eyes, he looked up, unable to make the face of them. Sitting up, Norbert spun around, his back to the fountain to see who woke him up.

Looking at the man in his robes, the more he stared at the face, the more familiar it seemed, but he couldn't find exactly where it was. "Do I know you from somewhere?" Norbert asked the man.

The middle-aged man with whitening hair spun around, robes billowing behind him. Standing up, Norbert shouted to him, "Hey, where are you going!"

The robed man didn’t even turn back as he continued walking forward. Norbert stared after the man, wondering what he would do this far away. Getting up, needing to face the day, as he stretched, he felt his back pop as he warmed his arms up.

Obsius is coming down from the top of Luck's head onto his head. Rubbing under her chin, Norbert picked up his things, waved farewell to Luck and began his journey back to the inn.

***

Opening the door, he looked around, seeing Martitia at the bar, her turning around as she saw him, moving a stool away and patting for Norbert to sit down. There was a flutter of wings on his head as Obsius went for her usual perch on the chandelier. Looking up, he shook his head, his companion abandoning him to his fate.

Stepping forward, he walked to the chair; swinging the backpack off his back, he rested it against the stool as he climbed. Turning to his side, Norbert waited for something to be said.

"So, where did you go last night?" Martitia asked him.

The mother coming out of her, Norbert knew he would be in the pocket for a while, hoping not to face her wrath. "Was out doing an errand for someone," Norbert said.

Martitia raised her eyebrow in reply. "And nothing else you did, nothing with regards to the explosion at the casino?" she asked him.

Norbert instantly shook his head. "I wasn't near the explosion, though I saw it. Wonder what caused that to happen?" Norbert asked her.

"Don't know, but I now know where you were." She said, pointing up at the sky before continuing. "Doing a bit of monkey climbing last night?" she said.

Norbert sighed, knowing he had slipped up, the trap had been set, and he was caught. "Look, it was for a friend. And despite what people might say, nobody got hurt. Except for me, though, there probably is a lot of damage to property." Norbert said, scratching the back of his neck.

"I already knew about it; I just wanted to see if you would fess up. Had an uninvited guest appear last night." She said before shouting, "You can come in now!" The words echoed off the room's walls as the door to the kitchen opened, Norbert not believing who was there.

Out of the door stood Elizabeth, bags under her eyes but still defiant and not giving up; the woman was tired but still had the same edge. Norbert stared, jaw open, as he didn't take his eyes off her as she stood on the other side of the bar between Norbert and Martitia.

"How did you know I'd be here?" Norbert asked her.

Receiving a smirk in response as she tapped her nose, Norbert just shook his head. "Keep your secrets then, but how did you get out?" Norbert asked. "The entire casino looked flattened by something, not a single piece left standing," Norbert asked.

"A quick escape, and I wasn't there to begin with. But I don't believe I was the target. Just what I was trying to retrieve, or more accurately stop me from acquiring it." Elizabeth said before waving her hand in the air. "But enough of that talk; it's not appropriate for anybody else that could OVERHEAR US!" she said, raising her voice at the end.

Norbert looked at the stairs leading to the second floor, knowing that everyone would be listening. The doors opened, and everyone leaned over the railings as they stared at Norbert. Mathaos said, "Didn't know you would be joining us in the mischief and mayhem. But oh boy, do you like your mayhem, Norbert." He shouted down the stairs before he came down.

The rest followed him as Norbert replied, "You know what they say, go big or go home. And I have to say I went pretty big." Norbert said.

Everyone smiled and nodded at his remark as they all came downstairs. Standing on the bottom step, Nancy, coming out the end, looked to Martitia. "So, what now?" she asked her.

All eyes turned towards Martitia as she indicated for a drink. Elizabeth picked one up before handing it over. Pouring some for herself and Norbert, sliding the drink to him as he downed the glass, wincing at the taste of alcohol on the back of his throat.

"We have a couple more days left of a break before heading off again. The recruits should be showing up tomorrow or the next day. Have fun and relax while you can. Hear the next one is going to be a big fellow." Martina said as everyone began moving about for the day. Norbert began to get up as he felt Martitia's hand on his shoulder again, forcing him to sit back down.

"So, what did you do after that?" she asked him.

Shrugging his shoulders, Norbert explained that he had just gone to the fountain of Lady Luck and stayed there the night; as they began to move, they stopped and turned around. Elizabeth spoke up "So that was you, the one guarded by Lady Luck. One of her only followers to clean up the fountain?" she asked him.

Norbert, facing her, just shrugged. "Didn't know there were rumours about me. Or at least that part about me." Norbert explained.

Nancy looked back, shaking her head. "How did you get her to appear, or any god? I've always wanted to talk to one." She said.

Norbert turned around in his chair. "You just need to be lucky, I guess." He explained to her, unable to stop the grin from forming.