The day after Bethany had hired Pearcival to rescue her mother she woke up itching to sprint to the prison to see if her mother had been let out. Factually she knew it wouldn't be wise, for one the person she had hired had sent her away and he was very much the expert. Secondly she didn't know if at this stage she would be able to stop herself from going in and attempting to break her mother out herself previous decisions be damned, something she had no experience in nor thought she had the ability to pull off. She went looking for Pete, his stories had been losing steam the previous day but they were still a welcome distraction. He was, however, still asleep, Bethany having woken at the crack of dawn due to nervous energy.

To keep herself distracted she decided to go for a run. A long fast run to exhaust her utterly and completely. For such a run to take place she decided it would probably require her to pick an extra long route that still kept her near the inn in case something happened and she was needed. In which case the best route she decided would have to be one that went past the prison. After all, there was so much empty space out there. In fact, to double down on her decision she would probably have to loop the place twice. Obviously she had wanted to avoid the prison but circumstances couldn't be helped. Or at least that's how she pretended to rationalise herself.

Unfortunately running past the prison didn't reveal anything new to her. Not even on her third loop because she suspected she might have dropped something. She hadn't. She couldn't even see Pearcival and, defeated, she returned to the inn. They still hadn't started serving breakfast quite yet, so she quickly got changed. Unfortunately the public baths were not yet open so she had to make do with a cold bucket of water and a bar of soap. Back home that had been the norm but it was safe to say Bethany had been spoiled in many ways with her experiences over the last several weeks and had always adjusted to new situations fast. Most the time, like the start of the initializing, this was undoubtedly a benefit but at the moment as she shivered in a room with only a bucket for company, she wished she hadn't got use to the fancy showers of Lexicoth quite so fast and ha instead seen it as a novelty or one off treat.

Feeling clean Bethany paced around the inn waiting for change. Eventually the innkeeper came up to her and thrust her breakfast in front of her, despite it still being too early.

"Sit down and eat love, your footsteps are echoing and you are stressing people out. I'll need you to stop pacing and muttering, otherwise I'll have to ask you to leave."

Bethany took the hint and sat down. She couldn't however stop herself from bouncing her leg as she ate though, an act that caused the innkeeper to throw her hands up in exasperation but otherwise leave Bethany be. While she ate Pete immersed but seemed to quickly disappear again. Bethany was confused but didn't question it. Instead she was trying to think of anything but what was happening at the prison at that exact moment. Soon Pete reappeared and without a word grabbed Bethany and started pulling her towards the door. SHe however, was in no mood for such games.

"What is it Pete? Don't say a surprise because i don't have one of them in me right now. Just tell me where you want me to go. Pearcival will expect us to be here."

"Sorry I thought it would be nicer as a surprise but you're right that would be a little insensitive given the situation. Don't worry about Pearcival i'll stay here and whittle and make sure he knows where you are but you need a distraction, a big one. And i've found just the place."

He tried to drag Bethany again but she still wasn't moving.

"And where is this place Pete?"

" Urgh okay okay, I've found a local butter place that is very popular in the city. I explained your skills, both natural and otherworldly, and they've agreed to let you come and work with them for a bit. I thought some churning would get your mind off things. You've said how much you love it and obviously you haven't had the ability to do it since getting to the city."

Bethany considered that fact. It was true, she hadn't done much if any real churning since leaving Lexicoth. It wasn't that she hadn't wanted to. She wasn't lying when she said she loved it. It was more that life had gotten in the way a little. Or more accurately her priorities had shifted. But the idea of going out and churning some butter wasn't the worst idea she'd heard. In fact it was just the distraction she needed. She gave Pete a quick hug and stopped resisting, allowing him to drag her to a nearby shop. The storefront was now open and the two headed through the shop into the back where Bethany was introduced to a number of women all hard at work. Bethany wasn't in the zone nearly enough to take in the names, and once again found herself thankful for the help of the system in keeping them straight.

It wasn't an environment she often found herself in, the women of her village hadn't liked her particularly, nor her them so she would never have settled down with them willingly. This group however seemed like a pleasant bunch. They quickly picked up on the fact that Bethany wasn't really in the mood to chat so left her to her own devices while they chatted and gossiped about their lives, and the rumours that were floating around the city.

Bethany did actually find herself suitably distracted by the women, primarily for their insight into how people were reacting to the situation of the last several weeks. The fact it had been over a month meant for many it had become the norm. THere were still hold outs and people who didn't want to meddle too much with it but for most it had become part of day to day life. The women were joking about how relieved they were to finally be reminded of a friend's kid’s name and joking about how their husbands had started to use their names again, having clearly forgotten them and been too embarrassed to say. Seeing Bethany smiling at their jokes one of the women begged another to tell the story of her nieces.

Apparently this woman's sister had already had quite the day, what with the being sucked into a Trial and everything. Having finished her first Trial, for cooking, she had immediately escaped and having seen the names floating above everybody had been horrified to realise she had mixed up her twins at one point and had switched their names. She'd been all flustered as she had spent so long learning to tell them apart and after all that time they had still been the wrong way around. The woman who requested the story was in tears at the situation while the others only chuckled slightly, it being clear they had heard the story many many times before. Much like this Bethany passed many hours, enjoying her time with the women and coming out of her shell a little and actually engaging in the conversation. Though obviously she never quite fully focused on them as some part of her mind was still unsurprisingly on her mother.

Having spent the full day with the women at the shop, Bethany took herself home with a very slight spring in her step and feeling generally thankful for Pete. After all she was sure she would have spent all day moping around the inn and generally being a menace to those around her. As she passed through the doors she noticed Pete wasn't alone but instead was talking to a familiar looking, though frail, woman.

Her feet were already moving before her conscious had caught up with what her subconscious had clearly already realised. She barrelled through people populating the inn. SHe didn't care who she hurt, nobody was going to get between the two of them.

As she ran across the room she let out a shout.

"MUM"

"BETH" Susanna shouted in delight and she wheeled around and ran equally aggressively towards her daughter.

The two met in the middle of the inn, blind to the rest of the world and the scene they had created and held each other close. As Beth hugged her mum she knew for the first time in a while, that everything was going to be okay.