A few hours passed, and the sun was overhead, just past noon. Andromeda and Alice had gotten the majority of the boxes unpacked, and with Whisper’s help they got most of it put together. In the midst of this, they discovered that Whisper was easily capable of lifting a fully assembled couch without help. While they were putting up some new curtains in the main hall, Andromeda’s stomach growled loud enough to echo.

“Wanna get lunch?” Alice laughed, Andromeda put the roll of fabric she had under her arm and stretched. “I wanted to get all of this set up before we headed out. Buuuttttt I doubt anyone’s going to steal anything. I guess we can take lunch.” Andromeda said.

They weren’t far from town, the hall was a bit outside of the town limits, presumably because the original owners were known to get a bit rowdy. Andromeda pulled their belongings from the tent inside, and the two of them made their way down the road. Just like the rest of the area, the walk was mostly peaceful. It was surreal to see just how much of a difference between King’s Grove and Skysea Adalay there was. The trees seemed less dark green and more lively, and the sky wasn’t choked with clouds all the time. She wanted to say something to Alice about it, then realized as her mouth was about to start making noise her brain reminded her that Alice wouldn’t be able to appreciate it in the same way.

Once they got closer to town and connected with the main road, the dirt path they had been following gave way to a much nicer stone paved road, smooth enough that a wagon could roll across without trouble. Alice seemed to mull something over in her head before lightly sighing, “So, when is Albert and the other one coming along?” Alice asked.

“Albert and Eli, Albert will be coming over once his “death” gets sorted out, which will probably be a few weeks. Eli should be here anytime Until then it’s gonna be me and you setting everything up.” Andromeda said. Albert a

“Of course, leave it all to us while they get to run around.“ Alice said.

“It’s not like that, Albert is probably going through even more then me, and Eli is settling some business with his parents and the group he worked with in Salsi. Eli especially sounds like he’s going through the ringer.” Andromeda said.

Alice shrugged. “That’s fair, to be honest if I had to deal with everything going on at home I’d probably be there for the rest of my life.” Alice said, kicking a rock as she walked along.

“As for me, I was considering visiting Argo and Catherine on the way over here. But then I’d be leaving you here alone an extra day, and I wanted to get a jump on unpacking.” Andromeda said.

“Oh, well now I kind of feel bad I didn’t mention it before. I would have wanted to stop with you.” Alice said, that surprised Andromeda. She didn’t think Alice would have much of a reason to see them again.

“Really? What for?” Andromeda asked.

“During the commotion in Betel, their son Milo and I had a close moment, and after everything was wrapped up I offered to tutor him. Apparently the schools are still out and they were teaching him themselves.” Alice said.

“Aww, that’s cute.” Andromeda said.

Alice play punched Andromeda in the arm. “I’m serious. I think he was one let me get my sense of the flow back. I owe him at least a little bit for that.” She said.

“I still think its cute, your making new friends already and we haven’t even finished moving.” Andromeda said. They continued for a few more minutes and reached the front gate. The guard waved them down, looking slightly wary.

“Hey, new in town?” The guard asked.

“Yeah, we’re the ones fixing up the old guildhall up the road.” Andromeda asked. The guard relaxed and smiled, he planted the spear in the ground beside him and leaned against it.

“Oh yeah? I saw those travelers heading in and out from the store carrying the boxes, what’re you up to in there?” He asked.

“I’m going to be heading up the local recovery. Lots of people coming back and things are a little out of whack.” Andromeda said. It wasn’t a lie, due to her being an Arch Mage she had to have a cover story for what she was doing out here. Having some random person move into a large building with seemingly unlimited funds would be a red flag to even the sleepiest of communities.

“I heard about that, kind of surprised we need two people doing that in town. We aren’t that big.” The guard said.

Andromeda looked over at Alice and shook her head, “Oh no, she’s just staying with me for now.” She said, the guard shook his head this time and pointed through the gate.

“No, I mean the other guy. He got here a few days with another woman saying he was heading up the same operation.” The guard said. This was the first Andromeda was hearing about someone else being involved, and that concerned her.

“Could you point me in his direction? I didn’t know there would be someone else.” Andromeda said, the guard smirked and pointed back through the gate.

“He’s been camping the barstool like he’s afraid it gonna leave him. Poor girl hasn’t been able to pry him away long enough to shower. They keep him around ‘cause they’re gonna bleed him on the tab.” The man said.

“Alright, thanks.” Andromeda said, walking quickly inside. Alice lagged behind and stepped a bit closer.

“Sorry, we didn’t introduce ourselves. I’m Alice, that was Andromeda. What’s your name?” Alice asked.

“Call me Hector, its what my mama called me.” Hector said.

“Thank you Hector, we’ll be seeing you later I’m sure.” Alice said, walking through the gate

As she walked away, Hector chuckled “I’m gonna enjoy seeing this play out.”

Andromeda probed the street for the closest thing a bar, the town was small and most of the buildings looked the same. Not shoddy or anything, but you can tell the same general group of people built it all once upon a time. Once she hit the street corner, saw what she was sure was a bar. The corner was open with no doors and on either side were large windows.

As she approached, she could see there were not a small number of people inside. About twenty in total, and they were all partying and halving a good time. Strange thing was that she couldn’t hear anything, you could walk by and not hear a peep from what looked like a raving party. As she approached, a man stepped out of the open doorway and leaned against the doorjamb.

“Wha’dya want?“ He asked. From the size and bulk on this man, she knew he was the bouncer.

“I’m looking for a guy, I’m told he hasn’t stood up since he got here.” Andromeda said.

“That guy? Yeah, he’s been here off an on for about a week. Got a girl with him, mousy thing. Wha’dya want with him?” He asked.

“I just want to talk with him for a bit.” She said, and that must have displeased the bouncer because he frowned.

“We ain’t dealin’ with any trouble here girl. If you have any grief, wait till he stumbles into the gutter. I don’t want to deal with it.” The Bouncer said. Alice caught up right then, wondering why the Bouncer was mean mugging Andromeda.

“Is something wrong?” Alice asked. Walking up as though she didn’t know Andromeda.

“This one’s starting trouble and I ain’t havin’ it. What about you?” The Bouncer said.

“I was just looking to use the bathroom, is that fine?” Alice asked.

“Make it quick.” The Bouncer said, ushering her inside. While his attention turned back to Andromeda. Alice stopped just past the doorway and pointed to her head, mouthing the word “Whisper”.

Andromeda realized what her plan was, and had Whisper exit her mind. She was cloaked to those around her so no one could see, and she passed through the doorway and vanished into Alice’s head.

Alice looked throughout the bar and was taken aback by the commotion. From the outside she couldn’t hear a peep, but as soon as she passed the threshold there was music playing, people yelling and enjoying themselves, and in a room towards the back of the building she could see there was some kind of party.

“We’re looking for a man at the bar, if the description was anything to go by, he’s probably trashed.” Whisper said in Alice’s mind. This caught her off guard at first, but relaxed quickly once she remembered that this was a thing.

“Wow, it really does sound like her voice is in my head.” Alice thought.

“Yep, but lets focus. I’m not seeing anyone around, are you? Er, I mean-” Whisper said.

“Never mind that, it’s fine.”

Alice continued to look, but there was no one that strictly fit that description. There was a young woman at the bar looking upset about something, but no man. However Hector did mention a girl, so that might be a good place to start. She took a deep breath, then walked over to the young woman. Making sure to face her dead on with the woman, she cleared her throat.

“Excuse me, miss?” Alice said, doing her best faux lost little girl voice.

“Yes?” The woman said, sounding upset and like she just got yelling.

“I was looking for a man, I heard he might be around here but I’m not sure where have gone.” Alice continued.

The woman was about to say something, then she noticed Alice’s eyes, and the way she wasn’t making proper eye contact. As soon as that happened, the woman’s mood shifted quite a bit and her expression softened.

“Oh you poor thing, what did he promise a girl like you?” The woman said. This caught Alice and Whisper both off guard.

“Promise?“ Alice asked, genuinely confused.

“Oh, good, I was afraid he bothered another poor girl for change to buy more booze.”

“Uhm, I’m not sure if we’re talking about the same person. I heard he was going to be helping the people around here. I wanted to ask him something.” Alice said, getting back on script to tease out more information. Hearing this, the woman turned away and facepalmed.

“Ah, yep, that’s us. I’m Richisa Vendee, but call me Chi, and that worthless lout of a man I call my boss is Garret Esther. I wish I could help you right now, but they threw him in the jail for the night.” Chi said. Alice, Whisper, and by extension Andromeda outside all simultaneously felt a pang of annoyance that this was dragging out into a whole ordeal, and Alice elected to cut to the chase.

“Alright, this is more than I want to deal with right now. Can you come with me?” Alice asked.

Chi was surprised by Alice’s sudden change in tone, and demeanor, but didn’t argue and went along with her. Once outside they met up with Andromeda and Whisper covertly transferred back to her mind. They cleared away from the bouncer and the bar, and settled themselves around a table in front of a store nerby. Alice went inside to get some food, while Andromeda and Chi stayed outside.

“So, who are you?” Andromeda asked.

“Richisa Vendee, but I’d rather be called Chi. May I ask who you are?” Chi asked.

“I’m Andromeda, and I heard that someone else was doing the admin job here, and no one told me before hand.” Andromeda said, Chi’s face lit up in both shock and surprise.

“You’re Andromeda? Oh my, were have you been? We, er, I’ve been looking for you for days.” Chi said. A statement that only served to confuse the situation more.

“Wait, hold on, lets start from the beginning. I’ll go first.” Andromeda said, and Chi nodded. “Alright, so, I was assigned here to take care of, and facilitate, the local area. Especially in regards to getting everyone readjusted after the draft a few months ago. What are you doing?” She continued

“A few days ago, my boss, Garret Esther, got a special request from High Magister Ferdinand. He wanted us to come out and help Andromeda Noelle with “whatever she needed”, which I’m assuming is you. Garret insisted we get here early, and when we did, it turns out that no one was expecting us, and we didn’t have enough to either go back to Salsi, or to get a room to stay in. He thought it was some kind of prank at first, and got incredibly depressed, thinking he was duped, and that this was an elaborate way of firing him. So he started begging for coin to drink his sorrows away, and when they finally got wise to his behavior, they threw him in a cell for disorderly conduct.” Chi said.

Andromeda could feel a headache coming on already, “So, should I even ask why he was so quick to do the most self-destructive thing possible?” She asked.

“I’ll be honest, he’s a little delicate sometimes. But usually he handles himself a lot better then this, I think the stress of being asked to do something by the High Magister himself got him in over his head.” Chi said.

“I guess I can understand that, one thing I’m still confused by is why I wasn’t told sooner? If I knew you guys had been in town I would have come down as soon as I got here.” Andromeda said.

“Ms. Noelle, I kid you not when I say, as soon as the travelers told him to get lost, he practically ran down here and started downing shots. I’ve been doing everything I can to get him to stop but he’s apoplectic.” Chi said.

“Two things, first, just call me Andromeda, second, that is incredibly depressing.”Andromeda said.

It was then that Alice walked out of the store with three paper wrapped items, and placed them down on the table. “Sorry, I only had enough for a sandwiches. I didn’t think to bring enough coin for more then just us.” She said.

They each got started on eating, and Alice was caught up on the situation. While Andromeda and Alice sat there and enjoyed their lunch, Chi practically inhaled the entire sandwich in one bite. Taking only enough time to breath and swallow before biting down again.

When she finished, she looked up to see Andromeda and Alice looking at her strangely, and her cheeks turned red. “I, I’m so sorry, I just haven’t had much to eat in two days. The most I’ve had is what the bartender was willing to give me out of pity.” She said.

“It’s, eh, fine. You’ve been through a lot.” Andromeda said.

The poor woman was about Andromeda’s age, but she already seemed to be developing stress lines, and it looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Her hair was up in a messy bun and it looked like there was something black and crusty stuck to the side of her head, and in general it looks like she had been sleeping in her clothes for a week.

“Hey Alice, can you take her back to the hall? I’ll see about getting Garret.” Andromeda said.

“Are you sure?” Alice asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be in and out in a few minutes and I’ll meet you back there.” Andromeda said.