Chapter 3 - Hangover

Alina walked out of Sargon's room sometime later. She stretched her arms and made her way back to her room she was sharing with Emily. The hallway she walked down was no different from any other inn hallway that she has been in before. Her, Sargon, and Karaline were discussing their next move, overall deciding to go to the dwarven vault anyway and try to get the relic inside. If anything, the relic was safer with the king in this heavily defended kingdom. Alina opened the door to her room and froze for a moment. She saw Emily lump on the floor. Ehu, the glowing blue wisp of fire was under his master, trying to lift her off the ground. Emily snored loudly, and Alina, with her heightened senses, could easily smell the scent of alcohol lingering from not just her breath, but the room. Alina frowned deeply, and walked over, shutting the door behind her and locking it. She helped the-wisp lift Emily onto the bed, and gently lay her down onto it. Ehu flew on top of her and rested on her stomach. He then turned to look at Alina. Ehu wasn't someone Alina was found of. A small floating ball of blue fire, with two eyes. It looked innocent. The wisp was in Emily's family for a long time, and when her parents perished during the raider attack, she took the ring and ran off with Ehu. The wisp was the only real family she had left, and Emily never took off the ghostly blue ring on her finger, unless she had to.

Alina sat back onto the floor and let out a long sigh. She spotted the cork rolling under the bed. She reached for it, and pursed her lips, turning it over in her hand. The logo burned onto the top of the cork was the same as the bar Emily had broken into back on Alnwick a month and a half ago. Alina growls quietly and tucked the cork into her pocket and simply sat there on the ground. She watched Emily as she slept, and would occasionally glance at the-wisp. Ehu remained on Emily's stomach, settling down. Even though the wisp was made of literal fire, it didn't burn. Instead, Ehu gave off a comforting warmth, that saved Emily a couple of times during the winter season last year, when she was homeless and living on the streets of Peccatum. The wisp made an occasional chirping sound. Alina was unclear if the wisp was trying to say something, or was just happy. Some time passed, and Emily woke up, coughing. Alina was quick to get up and run to Emily's side.

"Are you awake?" Alina asked, tilting her head. Emily sat up and coughed a bit more. She gave Alina a nod and looked around, rubbing her eyes.

"How are you feeling?" She asked. Emily let out a groan and a slight giggle.

"Pretty okay~" She smiled and blinked a few times. Alina frowned and lightly tossed the cork at Emily.

"What's this?" The girl asked, picking it up and looking at it.

"The cork from whatever you drank?" Alina said bluntly, crossing her arms, and folding her wings behind her.

"What do you mean?" Emily tried to lie, but she couldn't help but slur her words as she talked. Her eyes were slightly red, one more open than the other, and her cheeks where pink.

"Don't even try, Emily. The whole room stinks of Alcohol."

Emily groaned and sighed.

"It was... was just five... tiny sips." She struggled to say, hiccuping once she managed to.

"Considering how you're acting, I doubt it."

"Nah, it was... only a few sips... I'm fine~" She smiled, tossing the cork back to Alina, but missing by a mile. The cork flew way past Alina and towards the door to the room, thumping against it and bouncing to the ground.

"Once again. I doubt it." Alina frowned at her.

"Well... it doesn't matter... I'm... fine."

"Yes, it does matter. I said you weren't supposed to have that, Emily."

"You said I wasn't supposed to have 'that'... you didn't say anything about the drink." She giggled a bit and laid back down on the bed, outstretching her arms and wings so they were limp over the bed frame. Alina said nothing and gave her a long stare. Ehu had been looking at whoever spoke this whole time. Spinning in circles between Emily and Alina, yet he remained on Emily's stomach. After a long, awkward silence, Emily finely grinned and looked back up at Alina.

"What?!"

"This isn't funny, Emily." She growled.

"What isn't funny, Lini?" Emily giggled. Alina once again went quiet and stared at the girl. She took a deep breath and started walking away, and towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked, rolling over the bed to look at Alina better, Ehu flew off, and instead landed on Emily's back, nestling down their.

"I am going for a walk. You should lie down." Alina responded crisply.

"Can I come wit you?" Emily asked, frowning, and hiccuping once more.

"No, go to sleep."

Emily shook her head and tried to climb out of bed, falling onto the ground, taking Ehu down with her.

"Stay here, Emily. I realize you seem to find it funny to be disobedient and bratty whenever you can manage. But for the god's sake, for once. Stay here. Don't cause any trouble. Let me have five fucking minutes to cool down!" Alina growled, closing the door behind her and locked it, leaving Emily alone in the room.

"Five fucking minutes... fucking..." Emily grinned and giggled more at the word. She crawled back over to her bag and began searching through it. Alina had made the mistake of not actually looking for the bottle, and Emily just pulled it out again. It was almost half full, and she started drinking it again.

Alina walked out of the building in a bit of a huff and began pacing down the street in any random direction. After walking far enough, she turned and walked back to the inn, but when she reached it back, she paced back and forth in front of the door.

"Alina?" Sargon asked, walking out, "What are you doing out here?"

Alina stopped, and let out a long, slow sigh.

"Emily's being stupid... I had to cool off... you?"

"I suppose you could say I'm cooling off as well. What did Emily do?"

"Drinking. She tried to break into a bar back on Alnwick. I found the cork on the ground, and the bar seal was on it. She must've stolen it then."

"She likes to have constant attention." Sargon chuckled.

"She never listens. Ever." Alina grunted.

"You should try leaving her be for once. Maybe then she'll learn."

"And what if she gets hurt because of it?"

"That's part of the learning process, Alina."

"I mean seriously hurt."

"I'm sure you can intervene only when necessary. I have no doubt you'd be there for her."

"I just don't trust myself enough to take that chance." Alina frowned, crossing her arms and looking down.

"You should." Sargon yawned, "You know you're capable."

***

The sun rose the next morning. It cast a beautiful image as the light began to shine from atop the mountains, casting shadows onto the ground below, and lighting up the mountain from behind. A sigh most painters would dream of getting the chance to paint. It was a shame the group couldn't see it. The clock below ground all struck the morning sun drawn onto the clock faces, and bells rang out. Emily was laying halfway off the bed. Because of this, her back was incredibly sore. She groaned loudly as she woke, and sat up. She squeezed the sides of her head with both hands as her head felt like it was on fire. Emily's wings were sore as well, from being pressed up against the bed's edge all night. Alina had already woke and sat on the other side of the bed, watching Emily, and waiting for her to properly wake.

"Fuck!" Emily practically yelled, drawing the word out, as she squeezed her head. Emily hasn't opened her eyes yet and hadn't noticed Alina. She fell back onto her side and back cracked, releasing a little bit of pain from it. Alina stayed silent and simply watched Emily, for now. She kept groaning and whining before finally opening her eyes. She sat up once more in a curled up position. When her eyes finally found Alina, she froze and went silent. Alina stood up and held her hand out.

"Up."

Emily looked at her hand, a bit confused, and took it. She stood up, and almost collapsed to the ground. Her legs felt weak like they were made from jelly. Alina forced her up, and pulled the girl towards the door, taking a tight grip on her upper left arm. Emily flinched in pain as she was dragged. Alina opened the door and stood in the middle of the hallway. They were about fifteen or so rooms away from the edge of the building. She raised her other arm and pointed in its direction.

"Walk. To the end and back."

Emily looked up at Alina in combustion and sighed.

"W- Why." She groaned in pain, squeezing the sides of her head again.

"Walk," Alina said firmly, growling almost. Emily groaned again, and took a step forward, immediately falling. She hit the ground hard and moaned in pain.

"Up." Alina demanded, "Keep going."

Emily weakly got to her knees and used the walls as support as she limped towards the end of the building. Her wings dragged behind her on the ground, which slowed her down more and held her back a bit. Emily couldn't find the strength to lift them. When she reached about one-fourth of the way their, she collapsed again, falling and hitting her head on the ground. She grabbed it in pain as her head now pounded.

"Keep going," Alina called after her.

Emily moaned and after an excruciating sixteen minutes, she made it to about three fourths the way. She fell again and struggled to find the strength to get back up. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she laid their, sobbing quietly. She felt a hand grab her from under her armpit, and painfully lift her back to her feet.

"Keep. Walking." Alina said softly, but sharply, and let go of the girl. Emily continued using the wall as support, and when she reached the end of the hallway, she slumped down and allowed herself to fall. She didn't want to walk. She didn't have any feeling in her legs. Her head pounded, ached. Her mouth was bitter and her eyes couldn't stop watering. Her face was bright red.

"Now come all the way back," Alina said, walking back over to where the room was. Emily simply let out a small cry of pain.

"Why..." She cried.

"Just do it," Alina said. Emily tried getting up but struggled too. Alina stood in place, crossing her arms and watched as the young vampire struggled for another sixteen or so minutes before finally reaching Alina's feet. At this point she was in tears, leaving wet puddles behind her as she crawled the last fourth of the way to Alina. She stayed silent, looking down at Emily. After she took a few deep breaths, the girl looked up at Alina.

"How are you feeling?"

"M- My... my head... fucking hurts... I... I hurt... Thirsty."

"And why do you feel like that?"

Emily grabbed her head and squeezed it again.

"I don't fucking know!" She yelled out, crying more.

"It's because you were drinking. It's called a hangover. Fun, isn't it?" She said sarcastically. Emily only shook her head, still squeezing it.

"N- No."

"Exactly."

"I... I'm... so- sorry." She said weakly.

Alina closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She didn't look disappointed anymore, just tired. Alina shook her head and turned, grabbing Emily's shoulder and dragging the girl back into the room, leaving her on the floor, before shutting the door behind her and leaving. Emily didn't know what to do about the hangover. She just laid there on the ground, crying out in pain. No feeling in her legs, a pounding headache. She rolled to her side, and not even the heat Ehu imitated made her feel any better.

Violet was walking passed when she heard Emily crying. She stopped and gently knocked on the door. Emily's whining was a noise she was growing tired of but gently pushed the door open anyway. She looked inside and saw Emily on the floor, curled into a ball, and crying, squeezing her head. The bottle of empty alcohol was in front of the bed, on its side, dripping slightly onto the wooden floor. The short necromancer saw this and sighed. She left and returned a moment later with a glass of water. She bent down beside Emily and tapped her to get her attention.

Emily looked up at Violet, and saw the glass, not even asking for it, she yanked it from Violet's grasp and began gulping it down. The taste was amazing to her, but it did little to quench her thirst or remove the bitter taste in her mouth. Violet left and returned once more with more water, and a shot glass of blood. She didn't know if Emily had any stored or not, and couldn't find the girls portal key, so she just cut her arm slightly and chose to donate some of her own. Emily drank everything Violet gave her quickly, the pain slowly fading, but not enough to ignore it. Violet and Ehu together lifted Emily onto the bed and rested her on it. The girl's neck and back were sore and aching as well, her wings stretched out, and she groaned in pain once more, rolling onto her stomach.

Violet sat on the bed next to her. After some time in silence, and quiet sobbing, Emily looked towards Violet, and asked her a question. She had never really thought that she would ask Violet for help, but the pain was too much for her at the moment. It wasn't something her body could heal without enough blood, and she didn't know where her portal key was either, as it dangled on Alina's belt, as did her wand.

"V- V- Violet... D- Do you t- think you could d- do something a- about the p- pain in my back?"

Violet looked at her in silence and shrugged. She climbed on top of Emily and began pressing down hard into her back muscles. They felt tight and stiff, and the girl groaned in pain as Violet did so. She twitched and shifted around a bit at the uncomfortable feeling, but Violet kept going. In her mind, she wasn't sure why she was going out of her way to help the girl either. She liked Emily and wanted to be friends with her, but at the same time, disliked the girl in a way. As Violet gotta massaging Emily's wing bones and joints, she started to relax more. Emily had finally reached the point where she was calm enough to think straight. Her head still pounded and ached, but the feeling wasn't as bad as before. Emily soon let out a quiet moan in pleasure as Violet continued pressing against her back and loosening the knots and joints. Violet didn't show much joy or hatred for rubbing Emily's back, and wing's. But considering she kept doing this, she probably liked it.

***

Soon after the bells rang in harmony across Brozegrad, Dalton left he inn building, and made her way quickly to the forge. She gripped her portal key in her hand, running along with it, ready to give the dwarf his payment. Dalton wasn't one to spend a lot of money, in fact, she had not received any sense she journeyed into the temple of Asdros with her allies so long ago. It was rare for her to buy something, so she still had a lot saved up. Dalton ran past machines powering up. The mechanical bird-like things were flying around again, carrying parchment in a compartment around their stomach. As she got closer, she could feel the heat around her becoming more and more apparent. The forge was hotter than yesterday, with Andre sitting down beside his anvil, drinking water. He waved at her as she approached.

"Hey, Andre. How goes the forge?"

"Better than ever! I'm surprised the younger dwarves have taken such great care of the forge." He replied with a happy chuckle, "Now, I believe you are here for the armor correct?"

"Yes, I am indeed. I thank you for coming out of retirement to do this for me. Did anyone help you with it?"

"No, ma'am. I'm quite fine working alone. Have been for centuries."

"Alright. What fee do you wish to charge, smith? As much as I would love to have small talk, I believe I am being waited on."

"And I would love to say on the house, but I am short on coin for the moment. I'll take a few hundred for the materials, and the time."

"Just a few hundred, are you sure?" Dalton asked, giving him a slight laugh.

"Yes, I'm sure. In truth, the chest plate alone is worth over what you're paying me." He chuckled. The armor was stacked in a pile beside him. The silver and white color of the steel shinned as the light from the lava reflected off of it. The outlines of the armor where made from pure gold, and added more shine to it. The gauntlets, glaves, and parts were beneath it. The dagger Dalton asked for looked more simple then she had hoped for, but with the lack of materials, she understood.

"Oh, I know. That's why I'm not paying attention to what I am paying you." After a few minutes of dumping coins into the dwarf's pouch, she dropped it into his hands with a loud, heavy thump. Andre caught it and lifted the now heavy bag as though there was nothing in it at all.

"I suppose I'll take it as a sign of generosity." He then handed Dalton the armor pieces. "I made sure to put holes in the back for your wings."

"Many thanks to you. Are any of your fellow smiths from the last time these prints were made still alive?"

"No, not many. Like me, those who lived through the war retired early."

"Well, if you see them, tell them all of their work was much appreciated, despite how little it changed the outcome of the war."

"Many thanks, Lux." The dwarf chuckled and nodded.

***

Sargon woke when he heard a knock at the door. He sat up and opened it. Alina was on the other side, frowning, and looked rather exhausted.

"Oh, morning Alina."

"Hey..." She responded thirdly.

"You okay?"

"Emily has a hangover." She mumbled, "I'm hoping to let her deal with it herself will help... maybe... I don't know. I'm tired."

"Well come in if you want. We should probably talk about a few things."

Alina nodded and stepped inside, shutting the door behind her. She stayed standing, however.

"What were you going to ask me?"

Sargon sat down on the bed and went silent for a moment.

"It's more of a personal question, so you don't have to answer if you don't feel like it."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Who were Sangue, Ombra, and the others?" He asked a bit bluntly. Alina stared at him in silence for a moment.

"Excuse me?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You heard me the first time."

"Where did you get those names, exactly?" She tilted her head, looking mildly curious.

"I have my ways, and my reasons."

"Please Elaborate." Alina crossed her arms.

Sargon shook his head.

"Sorry, I can't tell you why I'm asking. If I did, you really wouldn't reply. I'm giving you a chance to explain the story yourself before risking hearing if from other sources.

"What 'other sources' do you imagine there might be? Do you even know where I'm from?"

"No... but, Alina. Something happened in your past that affected you deeply. Were those people hurt because of lapses in your judgment?"

Her mouth twitched.

"I..." Alina sighed softly, rubbing her eyes and mumbling.

"I suppose you could say that."

"Remember back at the Elven temple... when you had the panic attack?"

Alina glared at him but nodded.

"Something happened to you that took place near water, didn't it?"

"Well... on an island, yes." Alina sighed.

"This happened before you turned, yes?"

"What happened with Lucilla and Ombra, yes."

"And yet people resent you to this day. How unfortunate."

"Where are you going with this?" Alina dropped her arms to her sides. She frowned at Sargon.

"Are you aware that your mental struggles may have triggered a disorder?"

Alina barked out a short, sharp laugh.

"Next you'll be informing me my eyes aren't the same color. Yes, I'm entirely aware of that, Sargon."

"... Good." He said nothing else. Alina sighed again, and pressed her fingers into the corners of her eyes, and waits for him to continue speaking.

"You've been acting very weird lately. I wanted to get to the bottom of why. I just had to ask these things. I'd like more details, but I'm sure that would be out of the question right now?"

"Can you at least tell me how you knew their names?" Alina sighed softly, crossing her arms again.

"Remember when I went back into Alnwick castle to talk to Diabolos?"

Alina nodded.

"I asked him to speak to your sister, Lucilla. I know she's on the council, she looks just like you."

Alina stares at him for a long, frozen moment. There was no expression on her face, just a blank stare.

"I... excuse me?"

"Now beginning to see why I didn't want to tell you this?"

"You talked to her? Why? About what?" She frowned more at him, growling slightly as she spoke.

"It was hardly a conversation. She gave me small bits of information. Enough for me to understand that over half of your bloodline has been killed by you, indirectly."

Alina stared at him in silence again. Her expression slowly changed from one, slightly angry to more panicked. After several long seconds, she sank slowly to her knees, her hands shaking.

"I'm sorry. Know that I'm prying into your past for the noblest intentions."

Her eyes slid up to look at him, then back down to the floor. She couldn't say anything. Her words have failed her. She didn't know what to say, what to think.

"We can't go back in time to try to change what we did, but we can carry the torch for those who were unshackled from this world. And there is no higher honor to them than for us to carry their legacy." Sargon knelt in front of Alina, "Kasia lives through me, and Ombra, Sange's, and everyone else lives through you." He pointed at her. Alina closed her eye and shook her head slowly.

"I don't..." She stopped and started again. "I doubt they'd want to live on through me. If anyone has their backing it'd be Lucilla."

"The dead do not hold grudges, Alina. They simply observe. And they are happy for you."

"Bullshit." Alina frowned back at him.

"For you maybe. But I've seen and done things no mortal should. Trust me on this."

There was a long silence between the two, like most of the conversation. Alina looked down and thought it over in her head, before shaking it away.

"... is there anything else you need to talk about?" She said in a low voice.

"No. Thanks." Sargon sat back down on his bed again.

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