《The Neuroalchemist (A "Songs of the Ancients" Short Story)》IX. Pomegranate Juice
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At the dawn of the first sun, the two cursed with the bind sigil were already nearing the mansion's location. Although, they were in contrast moods from each other. The night before was a disaster, depending on who you ask. In general, there was no trouble. The two managed to find a good, affordable inn, away from all the ruckus, and with a good enough innkeeper, they wouldn't have to place their weapons at their bedside. A nice and quiet evening was what the two wanted, and so they both set off for that on their own.
For Eeira, she managed to borrow simple clothes from the lost and found section that the inn had — there was a surprisingly huge amount of lost clothes. It didn't make sense for so many people to lose their clothes, how would they leave the place exactly? But it wasn't like that mattered to Eeira, finders keepers, after all, and she was in desperate need of new clothes. With new clothes attained, her plan of getting a nice and warm shower was set in motion.
Aten, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to take off all his gear and lie dead on the bed the moment he laid eyes on it in the room.
Everything was nice and easy, the night was smooth. Until midnight struck… Aten had been asleep for about three hours, but Eeira didn't hit the shack yet. She was resting in the small lobby of the inn, enjoying a nice glass of pomegranate juice (her favorite since childhood), and listening to quiet music while gazing at the crystalized sky. Almost all the cave's interiors were made from that bizarre crystal. However, one can only notice that when the town that never sleeps turns off its lights. The atmosphere was perfect to make Eeira forget the awful day she went through.
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In less than a half an hour after that, Aten woke up to a loud ruckus downstairs, and so did the rest of the guests. Of course, his gut feeling told him that the problem was likely related to him. When he made it to the then-crowded lobby, the unexpected was even more unexpected. Eeira was running out and about, like a child who was high on too much sugar and had excessive energy. Her eyes were as wide as they could get. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was under a spell. When asked about what happened, the waiter serving drinks in the lobby simply stated that she had juice with a mere less than one percent of alcohol, nothing else. After already being through many bizarre events that day, Aten didn't question why Eeira was like that, and excused himself. He took her back to her room and kept watch over her, losing all the comfort he gained from the few hours he slept.
And so, four hours later, the two stood facing the infamous mansion. One, who was almost sleep-deprived and could barely support his legs anymore. The other, bursting with energy — although not too much — smiling at the impending doom before them, having no clue of her mischief the night before. Naturally, Aten didn't want to utter a word of the truth, but Eeira kept pressing for answers.
'I thought you went to bed early last night,' she said.
But the poor man was barely functioning to answer her properly. At least, he was conscious enough to refrain from telling her anything.
'Come on, why won't you tell me anything?' She asked, 'I thought we were going to be more open with one another, you clearly said that yourself last night.'
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— Eh, whatever. The truth is better than nothing.
As Aten struggled between keeping himself tied to the real world and explaining the disaster last night properly, Eeira's energy and smile began to slowly dissipate into nothingness. Mortified, she turned away in circles right after Aten finished his story.
'I am really, really sorry, Aten,' Eeira tucked in her face into her hands, 'I can't believe that happened. How could I have been so stupid?'
'It's not… a matter of being dumb,' Aten muttered, 'It's… H-How do you even get drunk from a drink that's barely alcoholic? Your behavior wasn't even close to someone who was hammered��� You… You don't do drugs, do you?'
'No, of course, not!' Eeira explained, 'The thing is… this is not the first time this happened. Whenever I get just a small drop of alcohol, I pass out and become what you saw yesterday.'
'What happened yesterday could never be the result of alcohol. I'm telling you, you were straight up looking like you had just confessed to the love of your life and he somehow said yes. You don't even come close to a Lightweight Drinker. To be honest, I… I've never seen someone like you before.'
'Yes, I know,' she said, 'It's a hereditary thing.'
'Say what now?'
'My mother had it, she was just like me. That was why she never drank alcohol for the rest of her life.'
'I see, I see…,' — he didn't.
'Can we… forget this ever happened? Please?' Eeira begged the half-conscious Aten.
'Make sure I don't pass out for a couple of hours and I'll wipe my memory clean,' he replied, 'But I can't say the same about the people who saw you yesterday. I don't suppose you can make something to make people forget things, can you?'
She shook her head in denial.
'Well, let's just forget that for now,' he said, 'Time for some ghost hunting, lady!'
That was right. They didn't have time for such trifle matters. Before them was the "Erster Hafen" mansion, almost burned to a crisp. If it lasted millennia then there was bound to be at least something worthy of notice within it, even if there were no ghosts roaming about.
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