Adrest came out shortly after, he was flushed from the bath and looked like a new man compared to the bedraggled and injured beggar that had walked in. Adrest was making his way through the barroom and wanted to greet everyone now that he was in a much better mood, but was shushed by both of the older women, with Alissa also motioning for him to sneak over.

Doing as bade, he carefully balanced on his heels creeping to his earlier seat, he leaned over to see what the big deal was.

He instantly understood as he saw Belle, finishing off the last of her treat with a look of bliss. Her sparkling red eyes opened wide and a huge smile on her face that suited her age.

It wasn’t long before Belle noticed the women staring, but was startled to see Adrest, having no idea he was back already.

Nearly dropping the empty mug, Belle put it down in front of herself as fast as she could, running over and jumping into Adrest who was prepared to catch her this time.

“I’m glad you’re all better Ady.”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily Belle, we still have to survive and graduate Ms. Alissa’s class together.”

Alissa was thinking about fussing over his wording, she decided to let him off for the day since this was also her fault. If she bothered to thoroughly scan every inch of this town today, she would’ve found the bugs and gone straight to them. She was admonishing herself for being overconfident, Adrest’s state before Rin treated him was easy to imagine with the stains and cuts.

Alissa decided to double Adrest’s training, which was perfect since they were gaining a training partner in the form of a Hero. Adrest was chatting away with Rose and Belle when he felt a chill go down his entire back. It went away as suddenly as it appeared, so he shrugged it off as a side effect of the medicines.

When Rin finally came back, it was late in the night and there was a drunk Adrest and Alissa, along with a very rosy faced Rose behind the bar freely pouring refills whenever either got low. It was actually Alissa who noticed first, turning around as soon as the door opened and charged towards her.

Rin felt an impulse of fear, but forgot it as Alissa hugged her so tight, her back released some relaxing pops. Rin tapped on the slim back and whispered out, “I can’t breathe.”

Alissa let out a dissatisfied snort, “You can hold your breath for at least half an hour, you’d be fine for a little longer.”

Though complaining, Alissa still complied and loosened her embrace, “I can’t thank you enough Rin, I’m afraid to think of what would have happened if you weren’t around. If there’s ever anything you want or need, just ask.”

Alissa finally released the Hero and held her hand as they returned to the bar. Rin was feeling overwhelmed by the drunk and affectionate Alissa, all she could do is passively follow, sitting at the spot she was guided to.

Rose was the first one to greet her, throwing a drink in front of her, “Drink as much as you want tonight Rin, it’s on me.”

Rin blushed under the grateful and passionate gaze of Rose, taking the offered drink and nodding meekly.

Adrest raised an eyebrow, “A hero that isn’t good with compliments?”

Alissa took a close look at the blushing Rin, who hurriedly tried waving it off, “N-nno, I’m just not used to it.”

Adrest clapped the shy hero on the back, “I guess we’ll need to start complimenting you more often then, huh?”

Red faced Rin stayed silent as she drank from her glass, not her chipper, normal self.

Adrest picked up on it quickly, “Is everything okay Rin? You’re never so quiet.”

Rin tiredly shrugged and curled in on herself a bit. “Do you know what one of the very first lessons at the Academy is Adrest?”

He had no way of knowing and said as much, “No idea.”

“In your very first class, the instructor makes it clear we will have to kill nearly as many people as monsters. There's no shortage of bandits and war in Radagon.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Alissa had come over at this as Rin quieted down, embracing the numb girl.

Rin finding her voice again continued, “That was the first time I’ve ever had to do that, I don’t know how to feel. I know they were bad, Gerald told me a bit of what he knew, and they tried to kill Adrest while kidnapping Belle. But I can’t get them out of my mind.”

“I’m sorry we put you in that position Rin.” Adrest felt ashamed for making an innocent teenager do something so cruel.

A bit of the usual Rin came out as she fumbled over herself to comfort Adrest, “No! If I had to do it over again, I would! It just hasn’t quite set in yet, you know?”

Adrest could vaguely understand her feelings, he didn’t enjoy what he’d done, but he would happily do it again if it meant protecting his friends and family. It also helped that he had a filtered first experience to prepare him.

Adrest put a large hand overtop Rin’s head. He lightly ruffled her silky smooth hair, which he earned a pout for, “We’ll always be around if you need to talk, you’ll feel just like yourself again in a few days.”

Belle ran over to give the guilty Big sis a hug, the three jumped as Rose pulled out a crate of dark purple bottles and slammed it against the counter.

“I can’t imagine how you feel right now Rin, but I can help you feel a bit better tonight at least. We’ll drink until all of you are sleeping by the hearth!”

Alissa was the first over as new liquor was involved. She picked up an offered bottle and closely looked at the sloshing fluid as Rose explained.

“I managed to get it sent from a friend who lives on the western side of Radagon, they are friends with some of the spirit clans. They produce wines and liquor with spirit fruits and herbs they gather themselves with secret brewing techniques. It’s impossible to get this far east so I was going to sell it in the spring. But! This is a special occasion, so let’s go all out.”

Alissa was hugging Rose after she said what it was, making her face nearly steam. Alissa soon released her victim, turning back to Rin who looked excited, with some spark back in her eyes.

“What does it taste like?”

Rose shrugged as she screwed and popped the cork in one smooth motion.

“No idea, I asked for something a little stronger, but I haven’t tasted any yet. But I have heard most of their spirits have special effects depending on the ingredients they find that season.”

Rose poured the four adults a small glass, as they clinked together in excitement and threw back the liquid, they were all stunned. It was like an explosion of cold mint in their mouth, the refreshing cool bordered on overpowering. Then, as it traveled down their throats, a cinnamon spice flavor spread over their entire mouths, and a comfortable heat sank in their stomachs and traveled through every inch of their body. They could feel their muscles relaxing, they melted into chairs as they felt the day's stress was washed away.

After a few heartbeats everyone sobered up and stared at the bottle sitting next to Rose in shock. It was amazing, the group was stunned silent when Belle spoke, “Are you guys’ okay? Does it taste bad?”

Alissa answered, “No it’s just really amazing stuff, I’ll have to head west sometime.”

Belle scrunched up her nose as she looked at the bottle, remembering what passed for good alcohol the last time she asked.

They all laughed at the cute display as Rose poured more drinks, this time a half glass for each.

The cycle continued until it was past midnight and Belle had fallen asleep, her white hair and ears spread across the bar top.

Adrest noticed with a smile and hopped to his feet to carry her to bed. Alissa saw the scene and decided to follow, leaving Rose and Rin temporarily alone.

As Adrest made his way up the stairs, Belle grabbed onto him, refusing to let go even after they arrived in front of her bed. Adrest carefully set the bundle down, but the small hands refused to loosen their grip on his shirt.

Belle opened her eyes, glowing red in the dark, “I’m a little scared. Please don’t leave me alone?”

Adrest and Alissa instantly felt even worse for slacking, Belle’s quiet voice digging the knife deeper. Adrest put his hand over hers. “I’m pretty exhausted anyway, I’ll just stay up here.”

Alissa sat down on the bed as well, now feeling a little crowded. “I promise it won’t happen again Belle, I even know where every fly in this town is right now. There’s not a single one left. But how about I give you the best night of sleep you’ve ever had?”

Belle’s eyes lit up, Adrest wasn’t sure how Alissa was going to get her back to sleep now.

Alissa pulled out a coin, it wasn’t a Trevil, a little larger. It wasn’t the right color either, the coin was a smokey gray and there was a perfect relief of a beautiful woman sleeping, her head resting on her arms. Adrest could see each individual strand of hair of the coin, he wasn’t sure how metalwork could be so incredibly detailed, he was sure it he looked closely enough, he would see the very pores on her face.

Alissa’s gaze stayed on the coin for a few seconds too long before continuing, “It’s a token of the Dreaming Goddess Astraea, if you hold it when you sleep, you’ll have the best dreams of your life and wake up feeling great. It was a gift from my mother before she left.”

Alissa became uncharacteristically somber at the end, Adrest had to ask, “She left?”

Nodding with a sad and happy grin she said, “My mom couldn’t put off ascending any longer, never bring it up in front of her, but she is a few hundred years older than Father and as talented. So she broke her bindings that much earlier.”

Adrest couldn’t believe what he was hearing, “Your mother's a God?”

nonchalantly Alissa nodded, “Yep! It’s not that hard for the most talented dragons, even some of the ordinary geniuses ascend with luck. She gave me it as a parting gift, so I could always dream about her while I can’t see her.”

Alissa put the coin in the rabbit’s small hands, then waved her hands pulling out a book, laying down next to Belle, practically kicking Adrest to the floor.

“Ady can go help the other two clean up, I’ll stay here until you fall asleep Rin.”

Rubbing his back where Alissa kicked him, he waved to Belle who was giggling at the show, “Goodnight Belle, sweet dreams. See you in a bit Ali.”

“Night Ady!” “Night Ady!”