The afternoon began to run late before any of the three girls would begin to awaken, leaving Riyxia a lot of time to tend to her thoughts. The room supplied for their rest remained silent throughout the entire duration, which also proved beneficial for Riyxia’s reflection.

Riyxia was also successful in her goal in being first to awaken, although this came with some additional painful reflections of their circumstances. Having occupied themselves through lunch in such conflict, they had in fact neglected to eat at all, and now it was basically dinner time. Even her own body emulated the same hunger process effectively, probably to also ensure it had the same nutritional resources in order to stay healthy. Even with the considerable injuries she had sustained being repaired, she had also lost a lot of blood in the process, and she expected her strange body probably had some additional work it needed to make sure she recovered appropriately. It was in that moment of almost organic reflection that she felt she was authentically her own kind of person.

Still, while she had to rest due to her own injuries, she knew the others had spent excessive energy and collapsed from that. Such would mean that the other two girls would awaken probably even more hungry than she was. This gave her an additional goal, not only to deal with the aftermath of the conflict, but to also ensure food was available as soon as possible. Riyxia quietly left her provided bed and made her way outside, getting a chance to look around with her physical eyes. However, she wasn’t able to walk far from the room before she was quickly confronted by a human woman, one who was visibly herself analyzing Riyxia’s condition from her distance.

“Perfect, someone is finally up. You won’t believe how annoying it can be to sit there waiting for something to finally happen.” The irony of the woman’s statement was lost to her, but very obvious to Riyxia, herself having also been waiting the whole time too. “Well, if you’re prepared to answer some of the questions we’re certain to have, given all of the circumstances, I would ask first for you to consider the time of day. Through everything that happened, we had also missed lunch, and I for one am absolutely famished. I’m certain my friends are likewise starving, and would greatly appreciate anything you could provide to help us in these circumstances.” “Ah, food, right. Not an unreasonable request, all things considered. Just be aware, we’re not exactly in a position to supply a feast. The food we have around here is much more intent on function than flavour, it will cut down on the stomach rumbling but I can’t promise anything about it tasting good.. fair.. okay.. like anything at all. Really, no promises.” Riyxia realized she couldn’t expect anything more than the offer the woman was providing her, and nodded her acceptance. Keeping irrational resistance down would only help keep the situation under control.

Riyxia felt like she had hardly blinked before she had found herself seated at a rudimentary table nearby, with some simple foods sorted around it. A stew she couldn’t even identify, a broth of some kind in a cup clearly intended for drinking. A sample of the stuff proved to be something between mostly tasteless and partly disgusting, like chewing on tree bark and gravel. Not that she had any memories of such, nor did she hope she had actually lost any such memories, but the taste experience was nothing more than was promised. However, she was starving enough to simply keep going, draining the serving before her despite the protests of her taste buds. When she had finished, she felt actually refreshed and energized. Function over flavour, it certainly was that, was probably excessively healthy from a nutritional perspective too. However, she generally hoped she would never need to suffer such a feat again.

“Got some color back in your face, I see. Good good, there is still more for your friends, and even an extra helping for dinner, as that’s right around the corner. So now to the formalities. My name is Ayzherie, one of the Hunters here, of course. While I’m probably not someone you would find interesting, we’ve suddenly found a lot of reasons to be interested in you and the other two girls.” Ayzherie.. It was a name Riyxia found familiar somehow, but she couldn’t figure out where she had heard that name before. “Nice to meet you, Ayzherie. My name is Riyxia, and like my friends we’re also actually not people of much interest in reality, at least by our background. Having led boring lives with high hopes, we’ve recently been inspired to set about finding a way to improve the quality of our lives, to seek true purpose in our futures. After failures followed by countless failures, we’ve found ourselves almost faced with the inevitability of needing to give up on our aspirations, simply because of how normal we really are. There wasn’t anything proving we could achieve anything more than that.” Riyxia had very obviously captivated her audience, both in confusion and in sympathy. Riyxia took the opportunity to make the truth of the matter work to her advantage.

“However, it appeared somehow that we’ve suddenly found ourselves on a bit of a lucky streak out here, discovering talents we didn’t even know we had. I still worry though that the passing good fortune might have gone to the heads of my companions, that they might be pushing themselves too much without being actually aware of the limits of their own abilities. Such is why the two of them had been so reckless over the past day’s span, pushing to achieve things out of a desire to actually do things they have never done, while suffering the consequences of their own inexperience. Even in reflection at this time, I can only feel regret for a vast number of mistakes each of us has made in the passing of this day.” Riyxia still kept the flow of details spinning, leaving Ayzherie speechless. It was the perfect opportunity for her to return to her previous critical reflections of the day, and to further investigate them.

“I myself got injured by my own poor decision making, and have very little to present in consideration of my own achievement. The other two had thrown together some investments they considered on a whim, without even putting much time in considering the details and organization behind it. Even in our recent confrontation, mostly achieved by the other two, my elven companion had been constantly overusing her gift at the dramatic cost of her stamina, without any real sense of practical reserve. My human companion meanwhile had been making use of her good physique without actually being able to yield much progress due to not having any suitable plan of action. It has really been a day full of chaos, throwing ourselves into things we don’t fully understand.” Riyxia brought her fabricated tale to a close, making indication of the room to further her closing statement.

“Ah, I see. Yes, certainly high potential with a lot of unrefined talent. I’m impressed you have the reservation to be aware of the flaws in your own abilities, that itself takes no small measure of talent. Specifically then in relation to the encounter with that.. beast you three fought earlier. Having such a keen ability to recognize potentials and flaws, I would really like to hear your own account of how that beast was handled.” “Ah, well, at first we didn’t even account for a threat until it came through the.. wall. The human was the quickest to react, baiting it outside so as to reduce damage, but not even bringing anything outside with which to defend herself. The elf had then found a nearby person hiding, and tried to ensure his safety, but without having any clear plan in place for securing anywhere to call safe. The human managed to prepare some bindings for the beast, without being aware that it could simply stand up on its hind legs, all four legs needed to be properly bound for such a solution to work.” Ayzherie pondered the details Riyxia provided in reflection, putting everything together. It was clear that such talented Regulars were still very inexperienced, that message was being portrayed very clearly. Still, she wasn’t yet satisfied.

“I see what you mean about your human friend’s combat prowess being entirely unrefined, but I wonder about your account for your elven friend. You mentioned that she over extended her gift, but that all she did was save a passer-by. I also wonder where you were in the midst of all of this. By your own details, and considering the injuries you sustained, mostly by how you had recovered from them, you had been victim to a surprise attack moments after the beast took to its hind legs, which then would have attacked you with its bound legs. Am I right about this so far?” “Yes, that.. that is how it went.” Ayzherie nodded, accepting Riyxia’s confirmation of events.

“Good, good. Jwyexzn was rather vague about the details around this point himself, though he did keep a really good account for much of what had happened. It was almost strange how he had almost nothing to say about your own injuries, but so much about the rest of the encounter. The elf’s invisibility though doesn’t exactly strike me as a reckless use of power, though it did sound impressive, and accounts of its usage did sound very cautious. What instead was visibly reckless was the illusion of that giant monster she called up, which brought her from a state of rather high stamina to being fully drained in almost no time at all. I could see that being what you would count as reckless, but what bothers me is that according to what I heard, it seemed such was called upon in an act of desperation because her two friends had fallen. You yourself were unconscious at the time, so I expect you have no knowledge of such an illusion. So tell me, how then was the invisibility so reckless?” Ayzherie had suddenly put Riyxia in a corner, having not expected to be caught with the problem of knowing too much about the encounter.

“I.. it.. she…” “Ah, so it seems I’ve uncovered the crux of something you had not accounted for. Your tale shares much of the same feelings, of truth layered with secrecy. You clearly wished to say only what would convey your intent, and exclude anything else, and I expect the details you shared were nothing short of honest, even if they might have been misleading. It’s a tactical move I could certainly understand, given the circumstances.” “I remember now. Ayzherie, that was the name Dhyinze had used to explain which.. pack.. he belonged to. So that would make you an important leader around here?” “Ah, it seems I might have been caught in my own game. You really are quite talented, you know that, right? Yes, I am one of the leaders around here, and though that still shouldn’t be quite as interesting, I did expect you might have been a little more careful with your statements had you known I was a tactical expert around here. Still so many things remain interesting about you three, but I expect learning more will be no easy feat. It couldn’t be said either that I’ve been left empty handed either, your insight has already answered so many important questions. Take it easy for now, make sure your companions are doing fine, and be sure they know they have food waiting for them. Further discussions can wait for when everyone is able to gather for dinner tonight.” Riyxia quickly found herself guided back to her room after that, Ayzherie’s tactical prowess having been enough to overcome Riyxia’s carefully designed plans in the end.

However, it wasn’t actually a loss on her part. Riyxia had still managed to keep hidden many of their most important secrets, and even her own knowledge could be excused as some sort of semblance of a gift she didn’t want to explain. Except for the knowledge she gained as a spectre that she shouldn’t have, she was pretty certain that nothing of importance was shared about their past. It was really the best avenue to take, to build upon the fact that all of this talent was honestly unexpected, and as such completely unrefined. It pulls all of the attention away from their past, and just lets them focus on their futures. However, that might be where some of the cost laid, as while their past seemed uninteresting, they had someone else who was interested in their own futures as well. She suspected that might create more complexity for them down the road, considering the sort of person Ayzherie appeared to be.

Closing the door caused Vwyx to stir from her slumber, having her wake up soon after that. She took account of their strange surroundings, Riyxia’s stressed expression, and her own hunger. Clearly stuff had happened, and hopefully food was included. There would be more things to worry about, but maybe it could wait until after she had eaten. One thing was obvious, Riyxia had at least physically recovered from her injuries, so that wasn’t a concern. A quick glance at Sryine showed that the other elf was doing well also. It also spoke volumes that Riyxia had been walking about physically instead of spectrally, though that might have mostly been due to hunger. Vwyx was really finding it hard to think properly while being this hungry.

“Is there food?” “Oh, uh, I guess it could be called that. Head outside, follow the corridor until you reach the larger room, there should be a table there. Someone will find you quickly, and there will be food. A serious warning though, avoid conversation, at least delay it until we can all be there. They are really good with digging up secrets, so you don’t want to fall for any of their traps.” Vwyx considered this, knowing her two elven friends were usually way better at saying the right things than she was. If Riyxia was so worried, she would have to keep quiet. Vwyx nodded her acceptance as she made her way down the hall, curious as to what kind of food awaited her.

Riyxia stayed behind, waiting for Sryine to join them as well. Mostly, she just wanted a little bit more quiet to sort out her thoughts. It was really bothering her that she had made such a mistake, reflecting on details she should have had no visibility of, like such a move wasn’t like her at all. Making such a mistake while being critical of other mistakes left her with a strong feeling of shame. It was really bothering her being so… inefficient like that. And yet, her sense of efficiency hadn’t been much of a thought before then, not before that moment when she was finally able to speak her mind like that. Being thrown into such a perspective made it rather clear to her, a certain sense of efficiency actually mattered to her. It’s why she had stepped in at the cafe, bringing it a sense of organization. Ayzherie had said Riyxia had a visible talent for such a thing as well, something Riyxia hadn’t even considered before. If that was true, maybe Riyxia would need to start taking more account of such a talent in the future, especially in light of her friend’s vast potential of talents. If she couldn’t keep up to them, maybe at least she could at least ensure such talents were applied at their optimum potential.

“Lots to think about?” “Oh! Sryine, sorry. Yeah, things have become a bit of a mess, like I had warned you before. Though, you’re probably hungry, we should get some food first. Just be aware, there are a lot of people here hungry for secrets themselves. We will need to be careful about what information we share.” Sryine’s sudden interruption eventually surprised Riyxia, having lost track of time in her thoughts. Sryine nodded, mostly appreciating the idea of food. The fact that she had no idea where they were though was still a haunting point, a vivid reminder of her own personal disadvantage in this situation. Riyxia would be the only one who had any information at this point, she would have to keep quiet and measure the situation once she understood more about it. Food was a perfect distraction for this. As they approached the hall, they encountered Vwyx walking in the reverse direction.

“Oh, nice, Sryine’s awake too. You’re in for a treat, the food they are serving isn’t much to look at, but you simply won’t believe the flavour! I can’t wait until we get another helping of something similar for dinner, it will be unbelievable!” “What, really? I’m starving already, just show me where it is.” “Oh, yeah, just go wait at the table over there, someone will bring you your own portion pretty quickly.” Vwyx had a sly smug expression, stifling laughter as Sryine ran off. “That wasn’t very nice.” “You said I had to be careful about what impressions I gave around here, and considering you two are experts.. getting some practice wouldn’t hurt. I wasn’t wrong either, I couldn’t believe I ate all that crap, and it’s unbelievable that we’ll have to eat more of it later.” “It’s a treat.” “Oh, that? Well, it’s still a gift, and hunger is still hunger. I ate all of mine, and probably won’t turn down dinner either. I’m still kinda hungry, honestly, though it was a very hearty portion. Dinner is supposed to be soon, so hopefully that takes care of the remainder of my hunger soon, so I can actually find it in myself to accept how disgusting it tastes.” Riyxia sighed, clearly Vwyx was hungrier than she was. The two of them returned to their original room, the closest they had to a sense of privacy.

“I’m guessing you want to save most of the details for when Sryine gets back, not wasting time explaining stuff twice, so I’ll save my questions for later. Even so, this place feels almost as.. wild as back home, just probably a lot more dangerous. That woman, Ayzherie.. she did try to confront me, probably exactly as you had predicted. I just told her I wasn’t feeling so great, and would appreciate having questions saved for later. Didn’t tell her anything more, not even my name, so she just left me to my food. Considering she happens to be Dhyinze’s boss.. being shy in front of upper management isn’t something I’m new to, by the way.” Vwyx had actually recognized the name right away, painting vividly the idea that she needed to keep quiet at all costs. High ranking authorities still intimidated her.

Both of them were left to their thoughts in this moment, Vwyx trailing off to her closing statement in reflection of her own insecurity, and Riyxia feeling even more shame for having failed to spot the connection any sooner. As neither could think of anything they would be willing to talk about at that point, the silence continued to persist inevitably.