Zycor and Lizali stared at each other in silence. The rest of the group gave silent glances at one another, attempting to figure out what was going on and what they should do. Baz glanced over at Mylon and grinned. Mylon shook his head violently, but his pleading fell upon deaf ears as Baz opened his mouth. Mylon swiftly maneuvered behind Baz, and kneed his legs’ joint, causing Baz to fall down. Mylon caught him and covered his mouth with his hand. Aislin grabbed Baz’s otherside and helped Mylon drag him out of the bar. “Don’t mind us, you two seem to need some time to talk. We will meet up with you after Zycor.” Mylon grunted, dragging a struggling Baz outside with Aislin.
Lizali chuckled, “You certainly made some interesting friends.”
“Yeah, they are an interesting group, especially those two.” Zycor chuckled along.
Aisha cleared her throat loudly as she irritatedly asked, “Excuse me, but there are still others here.”
Turning her attention to Aisha, Lizali smiled and grabbed her hand, shaking it, and apologizing, “Sorry, I kind of forgot after seeing Zy! My actual name is Lizali Regali, but feel free to call me Liz!”
“Yeah, I know who you are…” Aisha muttered under her breath.
Nalea picked Aisha up with one hand and gave a slight bow, “I do believe you two have some things to talk about, so we shall take our leave for now. Sir Zycor, I will wait for you outside.”
Aisha, struggling similarly to Baz shouted, “Hey! Put me down! I refuse to leave these two alone!”
“Apologies Aisha, but you do not have a say in this matter.” Nalea apologized monotonously while she walked towards the exit.
Zycor and Lizali looked at each other in silence for a moment. She burst into laughter while Zycor only chuckled. “Sorry about that, she can be… emotional.” Zycor explained.
Lizali waved her hand with a large smile plastered on her face, chortling, “Don’t worry about it Zy! She seems to be quite over the top, it must be rough to deal with her!”
Smiling, Zycor responded, “At times, yeah. But when it matters the most, she pulls through. She has saved my life quite a few times now.”
“Oh really? Then I suppose I should thank her next time I see her!” Lizali exclaimed.
With a soft smile, Zycor thought aloud, “You really have changed quite a lot.”
Lizali began to laugh, “Me?! Haha, look at you! I see those horn stubs and the unusual pattern on your skin, what happened?”
Zycor remained silent as he pondered on what he should say. Trusting that she would keep his secret, Zycor explained what happened. He left out the parts about Mr. X and Adria feeling they would complicate things. He told her a little about Novos, the invocation of their pact, the results, and the aftermath. Raising his hand, he revealed the Demi-human suppression ring. Upon seeing the ring Lizali’s eyes lit up as she excitedly inquired, “Wait, does that mean you have more pronounced features?! Can I see?!”
Zycor chuckled, “Yeah, I don’t mind, but not here. When we are traveling, I will show you.”
A little disappointed, but understanding, Lizali calmed herself down. The two continued to talk about what they had been up to. Zycor talked about his adventuring profession, leaving out certain details. Lizali talked about how she got really into tinkering with old technology with her teacher. She seemed to be deeply invested in research, though she was clearly avoiding certain subjects and information.
It was clear that both of them had decided to avoid asking or talking about anything that happened following their separation. The two of them chatted further and laughed until they both realized they could probably not go any further, at least not without talking about that time. The laughter died down until they sat in an awkward silence.
“What the hell are you doing?” Zweicor questioned in an irritated tone.
“Why does everyone seem to be irritated with me tonight?” Zycor questioned.
Zweicor, raising his voice, yelled, “I don’t know what is up with Aisha, but as for me, I want to know why the hell you are just sitting there, allowing this deafening silence!”
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“What am I supposed to say then?” Zycor asked, becoming upset.
Zweicor exasperatedly sighed, “I sometimes wonder how we are the same person. We literally trained our social skills for situations similar to this! And you pick now to revert to socially awkward?!” Taking a breath, Zweicor, now calmer, continued, “Listen, we know what needs to be said, or rather, asked. And look at her, she does too.”
Zycor looked at Lizali a bit closer and realized she was just as, if not more, uncomfortable with the current situation. He took a deep breath followed by a heavy exhale. This caught Lizali’s attention, causing her to question if he was alright.
Zycor answered, then threw the question right back at her, “I am fine, but are you? After the village was attacked, I thought you were killed as well. But I see now that I was completely wrong. But just because you are alive doesn’t mean you are OK. What happened?”
Lizali, clasping her hands together and twiddling her thumbs, looked down at the table as she thought. She looked back up at Zycor and responded, “It is a long story, so I will not go into great detail right now. But at the very least, you deserve some explanation; I only ask that you do the same afterwards.”
Zycor nodded in agreement and Lizali began to talk about what happened, albeit summarized rather heavily, “After I had left the village with my dad, we got a good distance from the village. I noticed fire and smoke rising into the sky when I looked back. I told my father and he looked back in surprise and horror. Despite my pleas to go back, he ordered the wagon driver to go faster. I wasn’t able to understand why at the time, but later, I was able to. My relationship with my father became strained for a time, I blamed him for whatever may have happened to you and everyone else. I threw myself into reading to try and escape everything.”
She paused for a moment, choking back some tears, and then continued, “One of the books I read was about technology from the era before the great war. It was more advanced than anything we have today and they utilized magic far more efficiently. I was instantly hooked on researching more about it. After about three years, I had read through everything that was publicly available. I told my father about my desire to know more and he told me about an acquaintance he had that might be able to help. He talked to them and told me about a hidden village that dealt in technology from that era, but were all deemed heretics and outcasts. As a result, I would have to change my name and head there in secret, never talking about the village while using my true name. I also had to cast aside my old life. When I said it was fine, he only nodded silently. I still don’t know what he was thinking at that time, and part of me regrets making the decision so quickly.”
Lizali paused again, struggling far more with this than she implied. After recomposing herself, she explained further, “A few days after, I met up with his acquaintance, a demi-human lady named Adria.”
Zycor’s eyes widened at the mention of his adoptive mothers name, but he remained silent while Lizali continued, “We left immediately after a final goodbye. We traveled for some time, truth be told I don’t really know how long it was. But she would periodically switch out with her assistant Nalea. Once we made it to the village, she introduced me to the village’s leader, a dwarven researcher named Borghild. He took me under his wing and I began to study, learn, tinker, and build technology similar to what I had researched. Although, it admittedly looked nothing like how it was described, though that may be a result of differing building techniques. Anyways, I would periodically meet with Adria and exchange some items she would ask for, and in return she would supply me with funds for my own research. And that is pretty much all of the important bits relevant at the moment.”
Zycor remained deep in thought, processing everything he was just told. After a few minutes, he finally spoke, asking the burning question, “You met M-…Adria, Liz?”
“Yeah, I did. I am surprised you know her as well. Actually, now that I am thinking about it, why do you know Nalea, and why are you two so close?” Lizali began to question.
Zycor answered with a somber smile, “She was the person who saved my life after the raid. Had I not met or been taken in by her, I probably would not be sitting here right now. She ended up becoming my second mother.”
Lizali’s eyes widened as she exclaimed, “You were adopted by her!? Do you have any idea how dangerous that information is?!”
Zycor cocked his head and inquired, confused, “Why would that be dangerous?”
Lizali stared at Zycor in befuddlement, softly stating, “Oh my goddess, you don’t know do you?”
“...Know what?” Zycor asked, growing concerned.
Lizali gave a thousand yard stare, looking straight through Zycor, as she commented, “Oh goddess, I don’t know if I am qualified to open this can of worms.”
“LIZ!” Zycor shouted, now both concerned and irritated.
Lizali refocused on Zycor and struggled to say anything. Finally, she stood up and said, “I will tell you on our trip, after you tell me about your story.”
She began to walk away, turning around and asking, “Well, are you coming, Zy?”
Zycor chuckled and stood up, “Yeah, let's get going. But you are not off the hook.”
“Neither are you!” Lizali chortled, a big smile on her face.