Kayde and Lunette find Kali, Gwendolyn, Xander, and Fore towards the Northern outskirts of Melusarej after having finished their fun. Clearly visible off in the distance is the gigantic airship belonging to the Silent Brotherhood.

As they approach a younger-looking man comes out to see who they are, “Oh, miss Gwendolyn it’s you. We’ve been expecting you”.

“Yes, hello Franklin, let my father know I’m back and that I’ll be waiting for him in the dining room on the first floor,” Gwendolyn tells the young man before walking past him onto the airship.

“Oh and make sure there are two rooms set aside for them,” she points back at Kali, Kayde, Lunette, and Fore.

“Yes ma’am,” Franklin responds before scrambling inside after her.

The others follow Gwendolyn into the dining room and take a seat waiting for Grayson to arrive.

“So what’s your dad like? Is he the type that is going to try and scare the shit out of Xander when he finds out?” Kali asks Gwendolyn, having never met Grayson before.

Gwendolyn starts to chuckle a bit, “No, he’s more of the type to try and act like that but really he’s going to burst out into tears when he sees me wearing this ring,” she readjusts the fine jewelry on her finger.

Seconds later, Grayson enters the room, Gwendolyn stands up to greet him, showing him the diamond ring around her finger when she does. Like she predicted tears come to his eyes and he embraces his daughter that he hasn’t seen in over a year.

“Xander you get over here too,” Grayson orders, wrapping his free arm around Xander once he gets close enough.

“I’m so happy for the two of you,” he tells both of them as they are tightly squeezed together by his arms.

Once Grayson lets them go he tells Xander, “Shirt off Xander”.

“I’m sorry what?” Xander is confused as to why he needs to do that.

“I knew what I felt now take it off son,” Grayson demands, causing Xander to comply.

“Ah yes, I could tell. You finally took the time to hone your body like you have honed you will and mind,” Grayson takes stock of Xander’s much-improved physique.

“Okay… can I put my shirt back on now?” Xander just kind of stands there awkwardly while everyone else in the room is looking at him like a piece of meat.

“Go ahead, son. Now tell me everything that happened over there, news has started to reach this side of the ocean about six revolutionaries and a wolf that took down the Purity and a corrupt line of kings,” Grayson takes a seat at the table, reminding them of their newfound fame.

“Before we do that,” Gwendolyn grabs an invitation and hands it to him, “This is for our wedding”.

“Yes, I’ll make sure everyone on board gets one,” Grayson nods noting the time and place.

“Also, there are a couple of people I’d like to introduce you to,” Gwendolyn wants to introduce her new friends before going into a long conversation about everything that happened.

“This is Kali and this is Lunette,” She tells her father.

“It is nice to meet the two of you. I have to be honest I was starting to get worried that my daughter never made any female friends, but it’s good to see that isn’t the case anymore. Thank you,” Grayson thanks the two of them.

“Awe... wait, are we friends?” Lunette looks over to Gwendolyn and asks.

“Yeah, we are,” Gwendolyn admits to her, despite the rocky start the two of them had. This causes Lunette to get up from her chair and awkwardly hug the sitting down Gwendolyn.

“I noticed that Drakthar isn’t here, don’t tell me something happened to him in the battle,” Grayson observes the large presence that is missing.

“No sir, he’s fine… well he has some things he needs to do on his own, but he should be back before the wedding,” Xander sets him at ease.

“Good,” Grayson is glad Drakthar is still around.

“Anyway, back to what happened,” Gwendolyn attempts to start the story of everything that happened to them over in the Sacrosanct Empire.

“Wait, come on Gwendolyn let me tell it!” Kayde interrupts her, very insistent that he be the one to recount their adventure.

“Fine, go ahead,” Gwendolyn stops, not sure why this is so important to him.

“Okay, so we were sailing over there and there was this storm, so we got in this smaller boat. The boat cracked in half and Fore, Kali, and I glided on the waves cause of Fore’s luck, while the other three almost drowned and were discovered on the docks near the capital. But more importantly, Fore, Kali, and I went into the woods and came across Lunette and she gave me this bracelet, well, I kind of took it, but either way, I can talk to Fore now. Oh and somehow Xander was captured or something and then the others found Lunette’s place in the woods. Everything after that was less important, the main thing is I can talk to Fore,” Kayde finishes his ramblings.

“Xander was captured, yet he is right here?” Grayson points out that maybe Kayde did leave out some important parts.

“While Kayde and the others found Lunette, Xander, Drakthar, and I were trying to find out more information inside the city…”

“Oh! I forgot, Lunette made us these rings that can make us look like different people,” Kayde excitedly interrupts Gwendolyn’s actual explanation of what happened to show Grayson Lunette’s other invention.

“No way, are you really still Kayde?” Grayson is in awe of Kayde’s transformation before his very eyes.

“Sure am, my voice is the same and everything, but I sure look different. If you get up close and touch my face you’ll still feel the metal, but it sure is cool and it did the trick for blending in with the non-metal people over in the Sacrosanct,” Kayde urges Grayson to touch him.

Grayson reaches out and touches Kayde’s face; he feels the cold metal of the plate that is usually there.

“That sure is something young miss,” Grayson compliments Lunette’s handiwork.

“Thank you, it wasn’t all that difficult, I basically already had it made because of this other project I was working on where…”

“Okay! Anyway, back to what I was saying. Xander and I approached someone from Xander’s past for more help... but she betrayed us and Xander got captured,” Gwendolyn cuts off Lunette, knowing she would have gone off on a long explanation of everything.

“I always meant to ask, Xander, why didn’t you turn back time back then?” Kayde interrupts but for a serious reason this time.

“Because I already did before the capture,” Xander explains, his expression pained and tone ragged while remembering Juliana shooting Gwendolyn through the head, the image of her lifeless body bleeding out on the cobblestone in front of him.

“What happened to make you turn back time?” Kayde asks, curious about what could have been so important.

“I’m not going to talk about it, let’s just say it was much worse,” he responds, the others noticing his normally darkly tanned face turning pale.

“Clearly you had a rough time over there, how did you escape son?” Grayson urges them to continue, not wanting to hurt Xander further by lingering on what must be a moment he would rather forget.

“I didn’t, they got me out. I was stuck in that cell for around a year I think. Time got all muddled together. Every day was sort of the same. That’s where I got so… well, I got all this muscle. There’s really nothing to do in a cell other than train,” Xander explains the last year of his life.

“You know Gwendolyn almost didn’t speak at all in the beginning when he was captured,” Kayde finds a way to poke fun at her.

“That’s not important, we got him back and that’s all that matters,” Gwendolyn grabs Xander’s hand and squeezes it tightly.

“It was really something, she was either hunting or trying to get herself killed, there was this one time her and Drakthar went into this tunnel…”

“It all worked out okay! Let’s just forget about it,” Gwendolyn interrupts Lunette again.

“After we got Xander out we defeated the king and got Oswald in power, alright now let’s move on,” Gwendolyn ends the recap abruptly, not wishing to linger on it any longer.

“You left out the best part, the scary king guy Alexandros was Xander’s grandfather,” Kayde mentions, thinking that was important.

“Not the thing I am the proudest of... but yeah,” Xander doesn’t deny it.

“What? You’re the grandchild of a king?” Grayson doesn’t believe it.

“Yeah, apparently my dad ran away from home with my mom to the mountains. My grandfather had them killed so I killed him, pretty straight forward,” Xander admits, not afraid to accept his turbulent origins.

“That must have been a lot to take in… well, now you can consider everyone in the Silent Brotherhood your family. We will never betray you unless you do something to Gwendolyn,” Grayson assures him while also threatening him.

“I won’t,” Xander states confidently, no longer scared of such a threat, he knows there is no way he could ever do anything to hurt her.

“You all must be tired, why don’t you get some sleep? We celebrate tomorrow,” Grayson gets up and leaves the room.

“Kayde you know the usual rooms?” Gwendolyn asks him.

“Yeah, yeah, Kali, Lunette follow me,” Kayde leaves, leading the two of them and Fore to the guest rooms.

The next morning, just as Xander and Gwendolyn are preparing to head to the cafeteria for breakfast, they hear a knock on their door. Gwendolyn opens it to see a younger recruit standing there holding a tray with two breakfasts.

“Good morning miss Gwendolyn, uh, I am supposed to bring you guys breakfast this morning... here it is,” he awkwardly hands it to her.

“Thank you, but we could have just gone to the cafeteria,” Gwendolyn takes the tray from him, the pleasant aroma emanating from it reaching her nose.

“Um, actually the former commander doesn’t want you there right now. They are setting up for the party later and don’t want you to worry over getting things set up. Anyway, enjoy your breakfast,” he tells her before leaving.

“That was kind of weird,” she comments to Xander before putting the tray on the table.

“He’s just doing his job, sounds like your dad wants you to relax today,” Xander notes as he eyes what was brought for them to eat.

“I guess, things would go a lot smoother if he let me help though,” Gwendolyn notes as she takes her first bite into some eggs.

“I know... but let them do this for you just once. They must be excited to have you back after so long,” Xander points out as he rips into a muffin.

“Yeah, you’re right, it makes me feel bad about abandoning them for so long... but once the wedding is over I’ll be back permanently,” Gwendolyn comments, not having brought this up to Xander yet.

“Huh, what does that mean for me?” Xander asks, not seeing where he fits in with the Silent Brotherhood.

“You will be my most loyal foot soldier,” she teases him, laughing at the idea of it.

“I thought I’d be like a sub commander or something, you know reporting to you directly or something,” Xander makes his case, looking for a higher position.

“No… no offense but you aren’t Brotherhood material, especially not when it comes to our leadership,” Gwendolyn shuts him down immediately, thinking about how different he is from the higher-ups within the Silent Brotherhood.

“Well, then what does that make me?” Xander asks, thinking the foot soldier comment was a joke.

“I think you would probably be part of a squad that goes down into some of the ruins where we find artifacts,” Gwendolyn starts to think realistically, concluding his powers would be best used in that capacity.

“So… a foot soldier,” Xander realizes as he gulps down some fruit.

“Yeah, when you put it that way I guess you would be just a foot soldier, with the opportunity to sleep your way to the top though,” Gwendolyn winks at him.

“As long as I am with you it doesn’t matter what my position is,” Xander ends their cheeky back and forth, letting her know he is okay with it.

“I couldn’t agree more,” Gwendolyn smiles, just glad he didn’t make too much of a fuss about settling down in the Brotherhood.

Later in the day, around lunchtime, they hear a knock on their door again. It is the same soldier from earlier along with Kali, Kayde, and Lunette.

“This guy has come to bring us to the party,” Kayde speaks for the nervous young man.

They enter the room that is usually the cafeteria, but it looks much different, transformed for the party to celebrate Gwendolyn’s engagement. The room seems somehow larger than before, the more spaced out table layout making the difference.

A bunch of people are already standing around drinking, waiting for the party to truly begin.

“Everyone they are here, now why don’t we congratulate them on their engagement with a Silent Brotherhood style party!” Grayson calls out, his voice booming throughout the room followed by cheers.

Kayde and Lunette immediately split off from the others to see what kind of beverages Grayson was gracious enough to put out at this event.

“Hey, you two were there right? When the Sacrosanct Empire was overthrown?” A random man asks them.

“Yeah, we were there,” Kayde responds like it isn’t a big deal.

“Wow you guys are really cool, I couldn’t believe the news when I heard it. I actually used to be from there, but I left because of the discrimination against people from the desert. It’s good to know I can visit my family over there thanks to you guys,” the man tells them before walking off.

“News sure travels fast,” Kayde points out, not thinking people would know so much about what happened.

“Does it?” Lunette responds, looking at him with a spark in her eyes.

“Wait are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Kayde asks her, also having a devious thought from this interaction.

“Maybe, what are you thinking?” Lunette wants him to go first.

“Okay so, it will be like a test. We tell a secret, something extremely private but also embarrassing about Xander and Gwendolyn to only one person and see how fast the rumor spreads around the party,” Kayde explains, watching as Lunette nods along to each part of the plan, leading him to believe she is thinking the same thing.

“That wasn’t what I was thinking at all, but it’s much better than my idea let’s do it!” Lunette finds herself filled with excitement over the thought of their social experiment.

“Okay, let’s start with that girl over there that is talking to everyone,” Kayde suggests spotting a more chatty girl across the party.

“Good idea, she is about twice as drunk as the average person here,” Lunette agrees having been watching people to gauge which drink she should have.

Over at the other end of the party, Grayson pulls Xander away from Gwendolyn and Kali to join him for some drinks.

“Don’t you think it’s kind of weird that it’s your party and no one is talking to you?” Kali points out as she realizes that she is the only one talking to Gwendolyn despite the party being for her.

Gwendolyn lets out a deep sigh in response, “It’s making me remember how much some of the people here really don’t like me”.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to rub it in. I’ll talk to you as much as you want,” Kali assures her, not wanting her to be sad today of all days.

Before Gwendolyn can thank her, she sees a group of women finally start to approach them, “Never mind looks like someone is coming over”.

“Hello Gwendolyn,” the woman spearheading the group greets her in an almost snobbish tone.

“Hi Rachel,” Gwendolyn responds equally cold if not more so, knowing her as one of the people that in the past that has been especially harsh.

“Congratulations on tricking someone into marrying you. It will be good to get you off the market so they guys around here can stop fawning over you,” Rachel insults her more than congratulates her.

“I guess you still aren’t having any luck finding a man,” Gwendolyn fires back, immediately gets caught up in Rachel’s cattiness.

“You know, I really did miss you being here, it was really fun watching you go from guy to guy around here, crying every time wondering why it didn’t work out,” Rachel goes straight in.

“Hey back off, it’s not her fault you’re a jealous bitch. I bet you thought you and those other girls I see standing behind you thought you could just team up on her like before, but I’m here now and it's obvious to me exactly what's going on. So why don’t you go fuck off the corner of the room where the lighting is darker because that’s the only way you will trick a guy into hitting on you,” Kali gets right into it, steadfast in the defense of her friend.

“Bitch, you don’t know the half of it,” Rachel spits on the floor next to Gwendolyn before rejoining her horde and walking away.

“So there are girls like that here too?” Kali asks, thinking most of the women that would join a place like this would be more tomboyish and less petty.

“Yeah… to be fair I do kind of deserve it. I kind of stole the guy she was seeing… twice,” Gwendolyn admits she isn’t all that innocent.

“Holy shit girl! Okay... You’re making me feel kind of bad for what I said to her,” Kali can’t believe her friend would do something like that.

“Don’t feel too bad she is a complete bitch. But I probably shouldn’t have. I was young, my hormones were all over the place and guys were constantly hitting on me, so it kind of just happened,” Gwendolyn tries her best to defend herself.

“I guess I understand, but I can’t relate,” Kali takes her friend’s side.

“Hey is everything okay over here, I noticed you guys fighting with some of those women,” Xander asks concerned, after getting himself away from Grayson.

“We’re good, Kali had my back,” Gwendolyn calms him down.

“Xander you’re not looking okay. Your face is a little red,” Kali observes, not familiar with the effects of heavy drinking, due to never being in a situation like this before.

“I think I am fine for now. Grayson is forcing me to match him in drinks… okay maybe I’m not okay,” Xander admits, his head just getting hit with a bout of fuzziness.

“Here drink some water,” Gwendolyn hands him a cup, concerned about his further well-being knowing how much her father can drink.

“Thank you so much Gwendolyn, you are my hero,” Xander thanks her before gulping down the water.

Meanwhile, at the edge of the party, Lunette and Kayde watch as the rumor they put out there spreads.

“Oh look! He’s telling her now,” Lunette excitedly points out from on top of Kayde’s shoulders so she has a better vantage point over the party.

“This is almost working too well,” Kayde laughs along with her.

“You think they’re going to be mad about this?” Lunette asks, the rumor they put out there fairly intimate.

“Yeah, probably… We should leave… but then we would miss the fallout of all of our work,” Kayde becomes extremely conflicted, not wanting to be the target of Gwendolyn’s ire but also not wanting to miss how things play out.

“How could we, I know they’ll be mad, but this is too good. Every time the person who is just told moves to a new group, it’s so uncanny,” Lunette points out, enjoying everything that is happening while drinking some punch mixture she found on a table.

“Humans am I right?” Kayde jokes, himself not being included.

Elsewhere, Xander flinches as he hears Grayson’s booming voice call out, “Xander! Let’s have another drink!” Grayson hands the young man another cup. Xander has no choice but to listen, taking it and downing it in unison with Grayson.

Once Grayson walks off to go talk to some more people, Gwendolyn tells Xander, “You just sit down. I’ll get you more water”.

Xander listens, going to one of the open chairs at the edge of the room. Gwendolyn begins to fill up a cup with water when she is approached by a group of men she makes a quick realization about.

“Hey Gwen,” one of them says while the others stand closely behind him.

“What do you guys want?” Gwendolyn asks the group of guys that she has had some sort of relationship with before.

“We heard an interesting little thing about you and the guy who is nearly passed out over there,” the same guy who talked before continues.

“And what would that be?” Gwendolyn asks, her tone becoming more and more annoyed as they block her from getting back to him.

“The word that is going around is that you haven’t slept with him yet. That’s cold Gwen, we know that’s not really like you. How could you do that to this guy?” He jokingly asks, a smirk appearing on his face as he believes the false rumor that Kayde and Lunette chose to spread.

“What? That’s ridiculous! I’m about to marry the guy and you guys really think I haven’t slept with him?” Gwendolyn incredulously disputes the claim, not able to believe even these guys are stupid enough to buy into it.

“Look, I’m just telling you what everyone is saying, and if it is true, maybe we could help…”

“Okay! This is done,” Gwendolyn pushes past them.

“And for the record, he is way better in bed than any of you,” she insults them before walking off to give Xander the water she got for him.

“Who were those guys?” Kali asks once Gwendolyn breaks free.

“Just a bunch of dicks,” Gwendolyn responds, that being all they ever really were to her.

“You know they are still following you right,” Kali points out just as Gwendolyn gets the cup of water to Xander.

“Seriously guys just go away,” Gwendolyn tries to get them to leave, her dad should have known to not have them here.

“Come on Gwen, look at that guy, he can barely stand,” one of them points out, not giving up so easily.

“Yeah, I can’t believe you would end up with such a scrawny guy when it’s clear we’re more your type,” another guy adds, not being able to see how ripped Xander is under his normal baggy cloak.

“Xander, can you help me out here?” Gwendolyn mutters and then realizes its a bad idea looking at his condition.

“Hey, you guys don’t look that tough,” Kali butts in instead.

“How about this, put up your strongest guy, if you beat me in an arm wrestle I’ll walk away and you guys can continue to harass Gwendolyn, but if I win you guys leave her alone,” Kali makes a wager with them, appealing to their brutish mentality.

“What you think one of us is going to lose to a girl? Hell yeah, we are in,” the one who has been doing the talking agrees.

“Azuk, get up here,” they all start to push one of the guys from the back up to the front.

Gwendolyn starts to panic, remembering exactly how strong he was.

“This might be a bad idea,” she mutters to Kali.

The man’s giant bicep comes into Kali’s view and she smirks, “Not big enough. I got this”.

They go to the nearest table and sit down on either side of it. Kali puts out her arm and Azuk grabs it roughly, shaking it a couple of times to intimidate her.

“Her arm looks like a twig compared to his,” a voice says from the sideline.

“You ready big guy?” Kali grins wickedly at him, showing him just how scared she isn’t.

“Alright three, two, one, go!” The battle begins, Azuk starts pushing against Kali’s arm as hard as he can.

Kali’s arm doesn’t budge even a little. She yawns, unimpressed by the opponent across from her. After her yawn ends she makes it quick, slamming Azuk’s hand directly into the hard wood of the table.

Kali stands victorious screaming out, “Who else wants to be emasculated?” The rest of the men that were hanging around Gwendolyn start to scurry way, afraid of her friend.

“Hey make sure he doesn’t drink anymore for me,” Gwendolyn requests of Kali, pointing towards Xander.

“Where are you going?” Kali asks, noticing that Gwendolyn is both angry and trying to head somewhere.

“Kayde is behind this I just know he is,” Gwendolyn notes as she tries to find where he is in the room.

“Behind what?” Kali has no idea what she is talking about.

“They spread a rumor that Xander and I haven’t slept together yet. It’s what got all those meatheads so excited,” Gwendolyn tells her just before spotting Lunette sitting on top of Kayde’s shoulders.

“There he is,” Gwendolyn growls as she leaves Kali behind.

“Kayde, I think it’s happened. We have an angry Gwendolyn incoming,” Lunette warns Kayde as she gets down off his shoulders so they can run.

They try to get away but it is too late, Gwendolyn is blocking the nearest door with her arms crossed.

“Oh hey Gwendolyn,” Kayde greets her like he did nothing wrong.

“What do you think you are doing?” Gwendolyn asks in a harsh tone.

“Socializing,” Kayde responds while shrugging.

“Let’s cut the bullshit, why did you spread that rumor about Xander and I?” Gwendolyn has had enough of his games.

“I haven’t the slightest idea what you are talking about,” Kayde sticks to the lie, although Lunette’s giggling isn’t exactly helping his case.

“You are going to go and set this straight,” she demands, her voice getting more and more strict.

“I can’t do that, they won’t believe me. I only told one person, it spread by itself. If you want to get it sorted out do it yourself,” Kayde defends himself, while also admitting to it.

Gwendolyn just sneers at him before walking away, frustrated that she has to deal with this on top of everything else.

“Scary,” Lunette comments as she leaves. Kayde nods in agreement, having said the same thing about Gwendolyn before.

Xander watches as a blurry Gwendolyn makes her way back over to him, he can’t tell how angry she is right now.

“Hey, you need to know about something,” she tells him, not wanting someone to tell him about the rumor before she does.

“Sure what is it?” Xander responds, slurring his words a bit when he does.

“Kayde started a rumor that we’ve never slept together before, it’s what everyone has been talking about. It’s a terrible mess I know,” Gwendolyn catches him up to speed on what’s going on.

“Why would he do that?” Xander doesn’t quite understand.

“I don’t know. He thought it was funny maybe,” Gwendolyn tries to come up with a reason.

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle this,” Xander stands up and walks past her.

She is thankful for him doing so before she realizes what he means. Gwendolyn watches as Xander starts to get up on a table, her eyes go extremely wide as she realizes what he is going to do. She tries to get over to him, but his drunken self is already standing on top of the table.

“Hey! Can I get everyone's attention!” Xander calls out to everyone at the party. The room gets silent and they all look up at the man on the table.

“Alright listen up! I’m hearing there is a certain rumor floating around this party,” Xander continues, causing Gwendolyn to bury her face in her hands out of embarrassment, trying to move to the edge of the room to hide.

“I just wanted to set the record straight and clear up any confusion that has come from this. Yes! I have slept with Gwendolyn before, many many times, in fact, the first time was on this same airship,” Xander drunkenly begins to explain to everyone how false the rumor is.

“So that is why you two were missing last time you were both here! You bastard, you abandoned our sparring session to sleep with my daughter, do you have no honor! ” Grayson starts to drunkenly yell.

“Oh come on, she had been waiting for two years, it was only new for you at that point. I waited a gentlemanly amount of time before sleeping with her,” Xander defends himself, knowing Grayson shouldn’t be insulted in any way.

“That doesn’t mean you had to do it right under my nose! You have put a stain on my honor in front of my people, you must fight me right now!” Grayson drunkenly demands, not willing to take no for an answer.

“Alright, bring it on old man, I’m not the same guy that walked in here last time,” Xander retorts, his inebriated state giving him confidence knowing he just defeated Drakthar. They both begin to head off towards the room where Grayson spars every day.

“I’m sorry everyone,” Gwendolyn calls out before going after them. Somehow Grayson and Xander get separated on their way to the room, mostly because Xander gets lost. He walks into what he assumes is the training room, but instead is just a janitorial closet.

He slips on a mop and falls face-first into a bucket full of dirty mop water.

“Fuck,” he lazily pulls his face out of it and lays down face up on the floor, his feet still sticking out of the door into the hallway.

“What are you doing here?” Gwendolyn asks as she comes across the drunken idiot after looking around for him.

Xander sits up to answer, “I was looking for the room we spar in but I guess I am a little drunker than I thought”.

This causes him to remember the reason he needs to get there, “Grayson must be waiting, I need to get there,” he tries to get up unsuccessfully.

“I was there a few minutes ago. I found him in there throwing up so I helped him get cleaned up and into bed, so you don’t have to worry about fighting him anymore,” Gwendolyn half informs him, half orders.

She sighs, realizing she is probably going to have to do the same for him.

“Come on get up,” she helps him up and lends him a shoulder.

Once he is on his feet he realizes where they are, “Hey this is familiar isn’t it?” He leans in trying to kiss her, trying to recreate their first time together but she turns her head to avoid it.

“What’s wrong?” He asks disappointed she denied him.

“You smell like alcohol, I don’t want to kiss you like that, what if you throw up while our mouths are like that?” Gwendolyn explains to him why she turned away.

“I won’t!” Xander declares almost childishly.

“Why should I believe you?” Gwendolyn almost laughs at his tantrum.

“Because I love you,” Xander drunkenly tells her.

“That’s heartwarming and all, but I think we should get you back to my room now,” she starts to walk forwards.

On the way Xander randomly comments, “You are so beautiful, how did I get so lucky?”

“Okay, now I know you really are drunk, but I appreciate it either way,” she smiles a little bit, turning to look at his face.

That smile disappears as she sees a yellowish-brown liquid spewing forth from Xander’s mouth. She begins to drag him to her room, getting him over the toilet before going out into the hall and cleaning up the mess he made.

Gwendolyn comes back into the bathroom after changing into a fresh set of clothes.

“I’m so sorry, this never happens to me. I’m also sorry about everything that happened back there with your father,” Xander apologizes in between exiting fluid from his mouth.

“Don’t worry about it, just focus on drinking water,” she hands him another cup.

After waiting there for some time watching Xander throw up in the toilet, Gwendolyn thinks to ask, “I was wondering about something that was mentioned yesterday when you said you turned back time before getting captured. I wanted to know what happened?”

Xander’s glazed-over look from the alcohol slowly dissipates and he stares back at her intensely, suddenly sobered up from the seriousness of the question, “I would rather not say, but if you want to know I will tell you. I couldn’t keep secrets from you”.

“I’m sorry, but I want to know,” Gwendolyn insists, too curious to let him keep this to himself.

“The first time, when we went to meet Juliana in the plaza we talked for much longer. Eventually, the conversation ended naturally… but… she asked us one last question before we were going to leave. She asked if we were together… and I told her we were. Everything seemed fine… but as we began to walk away she shot you… through the head,” Xander explains, his face in agony from even describing it.

“Oh…” Gwendolyn lets out, extremely shocked that this is what happened. She watches as silently, tears begin to fall from Xander’s eyes, the semi-drunken state he is currently in amplifying the emotions he is reliving from that moment.

“It’s okay… I’m here,” she hugs him trying to stop his crying, assuring him that those events never happened.

“I’m so sorry you have to see the things you do... but I’m so glad you do that for me and everyone else. You don’t need to keep these things bottled up inside…” Gwendolyn looks closer at his face as she feels light breathing against one of her arms near his mouth. Realizing he has just fallen asleep, she helps him to bed for the night.

The next morning, Xander awakens to the intense pain of a splitting headache.

“Look who woke up? You remember what happened last night?” Gwendolyn comments, having been up for a while.

Xander grabs his head as he groans, “Yeah I remember all of it. I’m so sorry, I caused a mess for you in way too many ways”.

“Yeah, you did,” Gwendolyn doesn’t try and disagree.

“I’m so sorry,” Xander apologizes again, knowing that party didn’t turn out how it probably should have.

“Stop worrying about it, just lay there; I’m going to go get us breakfast,” she orders as she starts to leave.

“Thank you, I love you,” Xander tells her as she is about to be out the door.

“Love you too,” she responds just before closing it.

When she walks to the cafeteria Gwendolyn notices everyone staring at her; it’s not anything out of the norm for her but she knows it isn’t for the usual reason.

“Oh hey, how did that fight go?” One more senior soldier has the chutzpah to ask.

“Do you really think you should be asking me that right now,” Gwendolyn glares back at him, piercing right through his confidence.

“No… sorry,” he apologizes meekly, fading away down the hall hoping she forgets who he is.

“Good morning Gwendolyn, fun party last night wasn’t it?” Lunette greets her as she notices her enter the cafeteria.

Gwendolyn looks over to where Kali, Lunette, Kayde, and Fore are sitting and bluntly replies, “No it wasn’t”.

“Everything work out okay?” Kali asks after Gwendolyn orders her food.

“Other than a weird rumor being spread everywhere, my former boyfriends relentlessly hitting on me, my future husband embarrassing me in front of everyone I grew up with, and having to clean up not one but two hallways full of vomit, I’d say yeah, it worked out perfectly,” Gwendolyn retorts, really emphasizing the sarcasm.

“I meant did they end up fighting?” Kali clarifies, never meaning to set her friend off like that.

“Oh, no the two drunks just threw up separately before making it there,” Gwendolyn lets her in on what happened.

“You mad at Xander?” Kayde asks, trying to think of a witty response if she says yes.

“No Kayde, funnily enough, I’m not… but you know who I am mad at?” Gwendolyn doesn’t give him the response he was expecting.

“It wouldn’t be Fore, would it? Cause that would just be mean. The little guy never does anything to anyone,” Kayde still finds a way to turn it into a quip.

“I don’t have time for this,” Gwendolyn storms off once she sees her and Xander’s breakfasts are ready.

“You know you are kind of a dick,” Kali tells Kayde once Gwendolyn has left.

He shrugs, “Eh, it’s the price of being funny”.

Gwendolyn makes her way back to her room and notices the door is ajar when she enters she sees her father and Xander sitting at the table.

“Is everything okay in here?” She questions given the previous night.

“Yes, Xander and I were just talking over our differences and apologizing for our actions last night. I apologize to you as well sweetie, I’m sorry for what that turned into,” Grayson tells her, regretting many things about last night.

“You should be sorry, both of you. It’s not like anyone there is fond of me anyway, but the two of you really aren’t helping. After the wedding, I am going to have to lead these people again and I can’t have my father and husband making asses of themselves if I want to command respect,” Gwendolyn lets them know she isn’t going to forget about this.

“We won’t. Now, what have you got there it smells good?” Grayson shifts the conversation away from yesterday.

“Breakfast, sorry dad but I didn’t bring any for you,” she puts a plate down in front of Xander before sitting down herself.

“I understand. Well, I should probably go get myself some of that to clear out my system. See you two later,” Grayson takes his exit, leaving to the cafeteria.

“You let your dad have it,” Xander notes, he’s never had parents before but he’s pretty sure you can’t just talk to them like that.

“I seem to remember you being included in that,” she teases him a little, thinking he is cuter when he’s on edge.

“I know, I’m sorry,” he apologizes for the hundredth time.

“Alright enough talking and more eating,” she tells him as they start to enjoy their breakfast.

At the start of the next day, they finally land in the desert capital. They head to the citadel, the place where they can hopefully find Jorge. The gigantic white building, the paint marred by the sand that is carried by the wind, stands before them.

Inside they find the usual crowd of warriors that always seem to be hanging around.

“Lads! Just who I’ve been wanting to see,” Jorge stands up in his usual state and approaches them.

“Good to see you too Jorge,” Kayde returns the warm greeting.

“Wait, where is my man Drakthar?” Jorge asks, his face growing worried, maybe starting to think they lost him while they were over in the Sacrosanct empire.

“He’s fine… well maybe not fine, according to the others he got all gloomy after both Xander and Kali defeated him so he ran off,” Kayde overdramatizes what happened.

“That’s not exactly what happened,” Xander tries to make Drakthar not seem like a child throwing a tantrum.

“That reminds me, I don’t think you have been introduced to these two. Kali and Lunette this is Jorge and Jorge this is Kali and Lunette,” Kayde introduces them, pointing from one to the other.

“It is nice to meet you two,” Jorge responds, not sure what to say.

They nod back politely before Jorge gets to what he was trying to tell them earlier, “Lads, there have been rumblings in the North East about that golden sand dragon we took down before. I want the glory to say I slew the beast not once but twice. Will you do so with me?”

“Hold on Jorge, before we talk about that…”

“Yup, we’re in,” Kayde interrupts Xander, seeing this as a way to prevent the separation of their group that he has feared since Xander and Gwendolyn got engaged.

“Good lads, we head out tomorrow, it would be good to have Drakthar with us but the rest of ya look strong, we can take it down with who we got,” Jorge doesn’t want to waste a second.

“Hold on everyone, slow down. Jorge, I will help you fight the dragon again but first, there are a couple of things we need to do that are of more importance. Number one,” Xander hands Jorge an invitation after he tries to settle things down.

“So the two of ya are finally getting hitched, congratulations. I assume there’ll be free booze?” Jorge asks the question that will determine his attendance.

“Yes, I can see that happening,” Gwendolyn informs him, knowing her father will make sure of that exact request even if Jorge attended or not.

“Then I’ll be there,” Jorge agrees, always eager to try out new types of drink.

“Jorge, the other thing is we need an audience with Hector,” Xander moves on to the real business.

“Ya killed his biggest enemy, I don’t see why ya even need me to talk to him anymore,” Jorge notes, knowing Hector is very happy with what they did over in the Sacrosanct Empire.

“Then tell him to meet us here tomorrow,” Kayde suggests, trying to make things simpler.

“Alright lads, then meet me back here tomorrow,” Jorge declares before downing his ale, standing up, and walking out the front.

They listen to Jorge and arrive the next day.

Unlike last time when they met in a back room, Hector greets them on the steps of the citadel, coaxing applause from those around as he does, “Let’s hear it for the ones who toppled the Purity and ended the rotten Athaulf line!”

Xander doesn’t feel right about being cheered for considering that the last part is false due to his existence. No one else feels that way though, all reveling in the extra attention.

Hector welcomes them inside sitting down at a table as the others around him go back to their business.

“I heard from Jorge our heroes have requested an audience with me. So what is it I can do for you?” He asks, wanting to thank them for what he never thought they could accomplish.

“There is nothing we want but I have a message for you from the new king of the Sacrosanct Empire,” Gwendolyn hands him the message Oswald wrote.

“You are Gwendolyn, right? The leader of the Silent Brotherhood?” Hector asks with a smile, his white teeth completing the classically handsome look when combined with his slightly greying hair.

“I am,” Gwendolyn answers seriously, waiting for him to read to message.

“Then I must thank you for your service in protecting our artifacts. I have met your father many a time at different conferences throughout the years but I didn’t know he had such a beautiful daughter,” he goes on, continuing to flirt instead of opening up the letter from Oswald.

“Yes, people do tell me that. The message though…” she prompts him to read it.

“Oh, right,” Hector gets back on task, opening up the letter from Oswald. His face goes from carefree to stern as he reads over it.

“I am glad to see the new king wants to see the war between our people end, but I am afraid I cannot accept this proposed meeting. He may be different from the previous kings, but I do not trust that others within the Sacrosanct Empire will not use this opportunity to try something,” Hector politely declines.

“But we picked that guy ourselves, you can trust he won’t let anyone do anything to mess this up,” Kayde tries to defend Oswald.

“You may be right that I can trust him, but that doesn’t go for everyone in the Sacrosanct. A soldier might see me and think it is his chance to bring glory to his nation by killing me,” Hector reiterates, wary from this having been done before by an Athaulf to one of his predecessors.

Xander sees this is going south and even though he hates Hector’s guts right now for hitting on his soon to be wife, he puts that aside to get this meeting to happen, “I understand your worry, but Oswald is risking much more than you are. What you say is true, and if so it is equally if not more true for him. You don’t have to cross the sea for this meeting and even though Melusarej is a free city, it is predominantly made up of those from the desert. He is in more danger than anyone and yet he is risking everything despite his advisors’ wishes just so he can set things right between the two of you. I ask you to reconsider and show him the same respect he is giving you”.

Hector sits back in his chair, Xander’s words having reached him.

He contemplates the idea for what seems like an hour before telling them, “Alright, I accept. I will be in Melusarej in two weeks to meet with him. I hope he is half the man you build him up to be”.

“Now, I have some time. Gwendolyn, why don’t we grab lunch and you can tell me all about your exploits within the Sacrosanct Empire?” Hector boldly asks, not used to the harsh sting of rejection to dissuade him from trying.

“Before that, since you are going to be in Melusarej in two weeks,” Gwendolyn hands him an invitation to her wedding set for the day right after the conference is set to take place between the desert and the Sacrosanct.

“Oh…” Hector looks at Xander, having had no clue throughout his advances towards Gwendolyn that she was already taken.

“I am sorry for talking to your fiancée the way I did. I did not realize…”

“It’s okay, I am just glad you agreed to meet with Oswald,” Xander stops his apology.

“No, I am sorry. If I were you and someone was making advances towards my woman I would have decked them across the face long before now. You should stand up for yourself more,” Hector tells him, while also subtlety questioning his masculinity.

“In all fairness, I was trying to be as non-confrontational as possible, I can endure a few minutes of you hitting on her if it means you’ll agree to the conference. Not to mention you kind of should have known she was taken given the ring,” Xander points out, trying to explain himself but also put the blame back on Hector in the end.

“I see… but women who are single wear rings all the time, I don’t let a chance with an exquisite woman go by just because they are wearing a ring,” Hector defends himself, pushing this towards a slowly building contentious argument.

“Well in the future maybe you’ll think twice if you see one,” Xander comments, not willing to let this go just yet.

“Hey, it is like I said, you should have stopped me yourself, no real man would let their woman get hit on like that,” Hector retorts, displaying his patriarchal values common of those within the desert.

“I mean you let her decline me herself by handing me the invitation,” Hector continues, trying not to be bested in front of those that have started to watch the argument with curious eyes.

“I did because she is a grown woman who can take care of herself. She doesn’t need me to defend her,” Xander fires back, his views less traditional given the relationship he has with Gwendolyn.

“I bet she is capable indeed, but I think she might have liked it if you stood up for her,” Hector won’t let it go, in too deep to lose in front of his people.

“Maybe I’m just secure enough in our relationship where I know other guys aren’t a threat,” Xander starts to get frustrated, stating the point he had been holding back on.

“Maybe…”

“ENOUGH! Hector, I found your advances flattering, but Xander is right I can take care of myself. Now if you two are done comparing size I’d like to leave with my future husband,” Gwendolyn snaps, not willing to let them talk about her like she isn’t there and doesn’t have an opinion anymore.

“See you in Melusarej dude,” Kayde waves at Hector, acting like his and Xander’s fight never happened. Fore barks along with him, this now his default reaction when he hears Kayde say something in that positive tone.

“You know what guys I think that went well,” Kayde comments as they walk down the steps of the citadel.

“I’m sorry for how I acted, I shouldn’t have argued with him,” Xander ignores Kayde completely, more focused on apologizing to Gwendolyn.

“No don’t be sorry. I agree with everything you said. I just wanted us out of there before he called off his agreement to meet with Oswald. Plus I kind of like you standing up for yourself against the big bad leader of the desert. Not many people would,” Gwendolyn makes sure he knows she isn’t frustrated with his actions at all.

“That’s a relief to hear. I feel like I’ve messed up so much recently,” Xander exhales, glad to know everything is fine.

“I’m just too happy once the wedding is over we can settle down and enjoy each others’ company,” Gwendolyn notes, frowning a little that he is still hung up on his mistakes.

“Hold on don’t think I don’t see what’s going on. You two can have your fun after we beat this dragon,” Kayde tries to call Gwendolyn out, remembering what Jorge offered previously and not letting the two of them go that easily.

“Oh, that,” She looks at Xander, trying to gauge if this is something he wants to go and do.

“I can tell you’re trying to get him to not go and fight the dragon again with us,” Kayde accuses her, not privy to her conversation with Kali, unable to realize she is willing to go if that is what Xander wants.

“I do plan to help you guys. Gwendolyn how about we go right after the wedding, then after that, I promise we can go on that honeymoon you were planning. Just one last fight and I’ll be yours,” Xander tries to appeal to her, unaware that he doesn’t need to.

Gwendolyn agrees instantly, just glad he isn’t going to try and push back the wedding, “Okay, that sounds fine”.

“Understood,” Xander smiles, glad she agreed so easily.

“Okay guys, it's time we get back to the airship and start getting things ready in Melusarej,” Gwendolyn declares, excited to get started putting into place her plan for the wedding.