Andromeda did a couple laps around the town, not being in a huge rush because she had a feeling this would be a stressful situation.

“What is with Ferdinand and doing things behind our backs? One moment he’s trying to make everything up to us and the next he throws more trouble our way.” White said internally.

“I don’t think he does it out of malice, he spent several decades without an Arch Mage so he might just not be used to having one. But you are right that its only making our lives harder.” Whisper added.

“I know that, but he seems capable in everything besides doing right by us.” White said.

“Hey guys, I know you’re grumbling, but can we focus on the task at hand?” Andromeda interrupted.

She wandered a little more and found a small board that had a map of the town, with it she found her landmarks and eventually found the jail, it was a small and relatively out of the way little building at the edge of town. It really rundown, but seemed kind of strangely out of the way. Sitting on a bench was an old man leaned against the wall with his hat tipped over his eyes. She sat there for a moment hoping that he’d notice, but when she heard a soft snore she realized he was asleep.

“Hey.” Andromeda said, she got no response. She didn’t want to deal with this right now, so she nodded toward him and Whisper left her mind, appearing as a spirit behind the man. She touched his hat, and instantly his eyes shot wide and quick as a flash his hand came up. It grasped at exactly where Whisper’s wrist was, but passed through without contact. His eyes instantly locked on Andromeda and he looked like he was ready to fight. But a moment passed and his stare relaxed.

“Don’t go scaring an old man like that.” The old man said with a tired look.

“I didn’t do anything, I was just trying to wake you up.” The man was skeptical, and looked to his side at the hammer and nails.

“Here, catch these.” He said, and then tossed two nails to her. Andromeda cause the first nail with her right hand, and then a moment caught the other with her free hand, when she looked back down at the man, she saw a hammer floating only inches from her nose. Whisper’s spectral hand was clasping it, and the man’s eyebrow was upturned.

“Can’t fool these old senses little lady. Show me whatever you got hangin’ around.” The old man said. Whisper looked to her for an idea of what to do, but Andromeda just shook her head. Whisper let go of her transparency and revealed herself to the man.

“Interesting. You don’t see somethin’ like that every day.” He said, almost seeming impressed.

“Yeah… I guess.” Andromeda said, feeling embarrassed for being called out so casually.

“It ain’t kind to bothering folk without introducing yourself. What’s yer name?” The man asked.

“Andromeda, I’m going to be working at the old guild hall up the road.” She said, not wanting to upset the man further.

“Name’s Gunthrup, dumb name I know but you don’t getta pick em. Folk usually just call me Gunny.” The man said. Andromeda simply nodded and watched the man yawn deeply, almost making her want to yawn herself.

“Well, you got me up in the middle of my second nap. I’m guessing you want want something, you don’t seem the mischievous type. Ghost friend not withstanding, of course.” Gunny asked.

Andromeda slapped her cheeks to clear her mind, and focused herself. “Yes, I’m here looking for someone named Garret Esther. I think he got himself plastered and locked up for it.” Andromeda asked.

“Ah hell, that windy bag of bones? I’m surprised he has someone lookin’ out for him that isn’t the other girl. Are you here to collect him or give him an ass beating?” Gunny asked.

“Probably both, in either order depending on how I’m feeling.” Andromeda said with a dry smile. The man’s wrinkled face cracked into a sly smile and he laughed.

“Ah! I knew I like you, come on, lets go get him.” Gunny said, slapping his knee as he stood up.

Gunny ushered her into the small jail, and instantly she was hit by the smell of alcohol and sweat, to her right was a desk with a stack of papers split between an in and out box. On the left were two cells separated by a stone wall. In the left cell next to the door Andromeda saw a man who she would have swore was a corpse had she not seen him rolling around on the floor in a stupor. Without a hint of exaggeration, she had seen dying men that looked less sorry then the apparently just drunk man before her.

“Yeah, I’ve been hanging out in the sun all morning because the damn grunt smells like hell. If you could get him out I’d owe you one.” Gunny said, he shuffled a few papers on the table and then sat down. “Doors unlocked, I figured if he sobered up enough to open it, he’d be fine leavin’ on his own accord.”

Andromeda opened the metal cell door and stepped into the space, Garret was a bigger mess up close, but what surprised her was that despite being sloshed beyond reason, he seemed to be dressed quite well. Button up white shirt, a vest, and glasses hung crookedly along his face, he also wore relatively nice pants and black leather shes. He looked more like an accountant then anything else.

She slapped his cheek a few times and he startled awake. “What the-” Garret started to say before doubling over and letting stomach out on the floor beside him.

“Ahh Hell! Get that sorry shit out of here before I beat his ass myself!” Gunny yelled.

Andromeda felt her blood pressure rise sharply while she grabbed Garret by the arms and dragged him out of the cell. “Hey, I’m sorry about this.” She said. Gunny waved her off.

“It aint your bother. Nothing I could complain about’s gonna stack up to the grief he’s gonna give ya.” Gunny said. They said their goodbyes and she finished dragging him the rest of the way out the door. She propped him up on the same bench Gunny was sitting on before and stepped back.

He sat there for a half hour, between bouts of dry heaving and moaning in pain while he gripped his head, he slowly seemed to improve. She just waited with patience she didn’t know she had. After enough time passed and the sun turned his pale skin pink. He finally sat back and rubbed his eyes, apparently aware enough to look around and wonder what happened.

“Where… am I?” Garret asked. When his bleary eyes caught Andromeda, he had a sinking feeling. Standing in front of him was a woman in intricate mage robes. A blazing red head of hair, and a slight glow in her eyes despite the bright sunlight, and from the way she was glaring at him, he knew she was displeased.

“What happened to Chichi, she’ll be-” He started, only for another bout of dryheaving to overtake him. Andromeda rolled her eyes and tapped her foot.

“Chi is with my friend and probably back at the hall by now. I’m here to deal with you.” Andromeda said.

Now that he was in the sunlight, she got a better look at the poor excuse of a man in front of her. She was right in seeing that he was well dressed. But he was just absolutely sloppy besides that. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he wiped spittle from his lips. He was a few years older then her as well, around thirty if she had to guess, but with as sloppy as he was that might just be the elements making him look worse then he was.

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“Who’re you?” he slurred, apparently still trying to remember how to use his tongue.

“A concerned bystander, you’ve got half the town as pissed at you as you are yourself.” Andromeda said.

“I don’t care what a crowd of back assward hillbillies think about me! They don’t know what’s happening to me. I got a request from the High Magister himself to come here and help someone. Only to find they didn’t know who I was. What kind of shitty luck do I have to have to get tricked like this!?” Garret yelled.

Andromeda’s patience was wearing thin, and she very much wanted to kick Garret in the ribs, but she withheld her violent impulse entirely on the fact that he might up and die immediately from the shock.

“Do you have any idea how embarrassed I was when not a single soul was expecting me to be here. I looked like a crazy person, no one could understand what that was like.” he continued ranting.

The urge was not going away, and not more then ever she wondered what the limits of her healing ability was, only so far that she might not have to live with the regret of the actions she so dearly wanted to invite upon this man for running his mouth.

“The worst part is I don’t even know who I’m out here for! Some no name clerk or something, I don’t even know her name. Andy Medea, some stupid name like that. What parent names their kid after the Medea. Like damn, you gotta hate your kid that.” He continued on.

“No, I can see you thinking. Do not do what you’re thinking of doing.” White said. Threatening to poke her in the brain for not uncurling her fist.

Andromeda’s eye twitched as she let the man continue from topic to topic, bad mouthing everyone from the town, to Ferdinand, the country as a whole, the guards, and even co-workers he had in the past. After another half hour of his wild ranting, he finally slumped over. She thought he passed out, but then he started sobbing. “I-I just wanted to… to…” He mumbled, then Andromeda watched his eyes roll his head flop down on the bench. She almost felt pity for him. Almost.

“Give me strength…” Andromeda whispered quietly to herself. She hoisted Garret up and and put him on her shoulder. Then she started the long walk back.

----------------------------------------

Alice and Chi arrived back at the hall, and said goodbye to the traveler corps as they packed their things to leave. They confirmed some things before leaving and Alice politely saw them on their way, Chi stood nearby being subtly surprised by how Alice carried herself. From the way she was dressed, you would imagine she was just a regular, if a bit smaller then average for her age, young woman due to the coveralls and tight pony tail. But the way she spoke and presented herself was like that of the nobility. Every syllable was dictated with exact precision and refined practice, putting small emphasis and stress specific words to command the maximal amount of information. She knew how to speak politely as well, but the way Alice did it was in a realm all its own.

Alice turned around delivered a gentle smile that seemed to hit with the force of a strong wind. “Let’s get you inside and settled in.” Alice said. Prompting Chi to follow behind.

Once they got inside, Chi was astounded by the change. Garret and herself had arrived a few days before, only to find a group of Travelers setting up a camp nearby and telling them to kick sticks. They were only informed of Andromeda’s arrival apparently, and were wary of others trying to take advantage of that. In that time, nearly the entire main hall had been furnished, with bookshelves, tables, chairs, and drapes. The only unfinished parts were the dust piles everywhere, and some crates stacked against the walls near the doors.

“Sorry about the mess, we wanted to get it finished before lunch but time caught up with us.” Alice said, not even realizing how much progress was made.

“Oh, no worries, I’m just happy you’ll have me.” She said.

“Of course we would have you, so, a few of the rooms upstairs have beds set up. Pick one and let me know, just don’t take the rooms on the right out of the stairway, one’s Andromeda’s and the other is a spare room we’re going to keep for guests.” Alice said.

Chi nodded and followed Alice over the stairwell and walked upstairs quickly. On the second floor, and now out in the hall, she was surprised to see that on her left side was a banister overlooking the floor below. It was easily a 15 foot drop from this height, but the railing went up to her chest and seemed solid, you’d have to try and jump to fall over it...

She moved past quickly as the invasive thoughts of what might happen if it did break grew too strong.

The floor was shaped like a horseshoe, curved around the main hall below. Immediately left of the door from the stairwell was a short stretch that left turned into a set of four rooms. Going straight from the stairwell was two larger rooms on the right, and once you turned left past them there were five more rooms. She didn’t want to take the first room on the right because it was slightly larger then the rest, so she went one hall down and took the first room on the left. It would be a bit of a walk back down to the main room, but she didn’t mind that.

Once she walked in, the room really was sparse. There was a bed as advertised, but besides that there was a single table and chair, and new drapes over the window. The room wasn’t terribly large, but also fairly generous considering that she wasn’t entirely sure she wasn’t going to be sleeping in an alley when she woke up that morning.

Chi sat down on the bed and took off her coat, hanging it on the bed post. Sitting on the finely crafted mattress, and seeing the pristine while feather-down pillow beside her made her eyelids feel very heavy. She thought that it wouldn’t hurt to rest for just a moment, just to see how the pillow felt of course! She’d want to be sure it was fine before she went to sleep that night…

Down stairs, Alice could sense through the flow that Chi put her head down on the pillow and literally within moments was fast asleep. She had a strong suspicion that would be the case, but was impressed by how quickly it actually happened. Not wanting to get started on any major projects while Andromeda was still out, and because she didn’t want to wake Chi up above, Alice went outside.

The front of the hall had a covered porch, and built into the walls were a few benches. Alice sat down and sat quietly for a moment. The calm afternoon put her at ease, and for the first time in a long while she relaxed. She dropped her awareness of the flow and just listened to the world around her. Not having the endless waves of flow fill her mind at all moments was always a profound experience, even when she was unable to sense the flow at all. Every sound was so clear, every smell was so vibrant, she could almost tell where everything was just from her secondary senses. When she was younger, she used to hate this feeling. It was all so overwhelming. But now she has an appreciation for how little it actually is compared to Divination.

She was thankful for every moment she used it, but too much of any good thing could become a bad thing. All the more when it was taken away from her. While Alice sat there, her mind drifted from thought to thought. Eventually she came to recall the events at Betel. When she was throwing around fragments of a building, there was such a strange feeling in her heart. Like anger, but more… empty.

All the swirling heat of an inferno with none of the fire. She recalled thinking it was strange then, but the fight or flight made it hard to be introspective. Now she just wondered how it happened at all. Alice didn’t know if Andromeda had the right of it, maybe she had been underestimating her abilities, but that didn’t feel right. It was like she was using something that wasn’t hers. Or something was using her without her knowing.

Her mind wandered again, and this time to her Dear Teacher. What had happened that night when she woke up in the closet? Was it a vision? A memory? Or was it something else entirely?

The thought that something might use her memory of her Dear Teacher to manipulate late her upset her greatly, but she couldn’t be sure that was the case. Whatever it was that happened gave her the strength to get through that night, but it felt too convenient. After being without her sense of the flow for so long, only to have a vision of some kind and for it to come back in small way. Things like that did not happen casually. She was too familiar with the mystical arts of magic to believe that it was pure chance.

Alice took a deep breathe. There was time to think about this later, but now she just wanted to relax and enjoy the peaceful afternoon.

…

…

…

She heard footsteps in the far distance, “Alice? You out here?” Andromeda called.