When Raven arrived at the Enchanted Wand, Darius was still asleep. Not wanting to wake up the already tired friend, he left a letter detailing the events of the vampire hunt. Along with it was an apology–an apology for not killing the bastard before his fiancee was killed.
'I doubt a man like him would agree to this,' his heart still heavy, Raven took one last glance at the inscription shop. 'But I hope he moves on with time and doesn't force himself to keep living in the past.'
Having been stuck longing for parents that he never knew once, Raven knew exactly how it feels to insist on the past. Your body outgrows your mind, and what's left is a shell of a man whose mind dreamily lingers in the past.
'Now I am living in the past still inside that store…' Pulling himself out of his thoughts, Raven turned around and made his way to the Boartooth Inn. His companions have been waiting for him since last night, and after making them wait all night, there were bound to be some questions incoming.
Clicking his shoe on the ground, the mage stretched his legs and bolted through the streets. Like a gust of storm wind, his trail left everything behind in a trail of dust. His quick stride reminded him of last night before the hunt began, when the vampire spies were stalking his party through the streets.
'Feels like that never happened.' It felt unreal to him how much could happen in one night. From being chased by spies, to killing a vampire, and then ending the night with a hearty portion of lovemaking with a new woman. 'This could be our last mission in Athenia if we're gonna leave soon, and to be honest, I'm glad it was hunting that damned vampire.'
By the time he finished his thoughts, he had arrived at the Boarthooth. Stopping himself from sprinting, he quickly walked inside. Looking around for a spell, he found not only Moxy serving up waking customers but also Mino sitting alone on a bar stool with a bandage around her stomach. Suddenly sniffing something in the air, Mino turned her head around.
"Finally, I've been waiting on this tool since last night…" Mino said, yawning with her eyes all droopy.
Upon hearing Mino speak for once since last night, Moxy followed her gaze over to Raven. Letting a pitcher of coffee down on a table, she stared at the duo with a faint smile.
"She's been waiting without blinking even once, you know?" Walking towards Raven with an empty tray, Moxy turned her gaze to Mino for a split second. "He's here alright, now just go and get some rest before you get wrinkles on those perfectly red cheeks."
Getting up from the stool with yet another yawn, Mino stretched her arms a little before nodding at the fox-girl and her master.
"Yeah…Wake me up if we're going anywhere," she said before turning to the stairs and stumbling her way up.
"By the way…" Grabbing Raven's hand while he was still looking at Mino, Moxy turned around to face the customer and led his hand around her back. Slowly sliding it down, she made his fingers slip under her skirt and eventually between her ass cheeks. "I think I'm ready for it tonight, don't want you to leave before doing it from the back."
His fingers caressing the base of her buttplug embedded with a heart-shaped jewel, Raven felt excited for night to come. It possibly would be their last night at the Boartooth for a while, so enjoying it with something special was exactly how he wanted to spend it.
"I'll be waiting," he whispered, leaning into ears.
With that promise to the Fox girl, he made his way upstairs to meet the rest of his crew. The moment he walked upstairs, he could already hear Erika as well as the others, talking in one of their rooms. Making his way straight up there, Raven knocked on the door and waited for someone to open it.
"Where have you been?!" Flinging the door open with that question, Mel stood before him with a foul expression.
"Doesn't matter, not like you'd actually like my answer," brushing her to the side, he walked inside.
Closing the door behind him, Mel quickly walked up to Amedith and sat down on the bed beside him. Glancing around the room, Raven noticed Erika and Aria both sitting on a pair of stools opposite the lovers.
"What were you guys discussing?" He asked, curious as to what they'd talked about so far.
Turning their gaze to Amedith, all three of the girls waited for the hero to answer that question. With all eyes on him, he heaved a sigh and looked at Raven to answer.
"My mother invited us to stay at the farmhouse before we leave, a week-long invitation," to nobody's surprise, Amedith didn't look thrilled about the invite.
"And you don't want to because she's too clingy?" Raven asked, knowing exactly what the hero had in mind.
Shrugging his shoulders, Amedith looked around at everyone as if trying to read their thoughts through their expression.
"I mean yeah…It's just too much at times–"
"Okay that's fucking enough," interjecting mid-sentence, Aria aggressively jumped off the stool. Walking up to the only adopted child, she grabbed Amedith by the collar and pulled him off the bed.
"Let him go!" Complained Mel, yet the dark elf had no intentions of listening.
"You're really gonna defend this jackass, when any one of us would happily take his place?!" Screaming out loud, Aria glared at Mel for a while before looking around to see if anyone else dissented. When not even Erika seemed to try and stop her, she knew her actions weren't that out of line.
"She sacrificed so much of her life to raise you away from that dump of an orphanage and you're gonna leave–possibly to never return! Without telling her?!" Pushing Amedith back on the bed with those words, the dark elf growled at him through gritted teeth. "We're going, and I don't care what you think…"
Her words echoed through the room until it fell into complete silence. Nobody, not even the so-called Hero dared to speak, after all, he knew deep down how fortunate he was to be raised by a parent–something his friends lamented the loss of or even dreamt of knowing.
"Aria…" Breaking the silence, the priestess got off her stool. "I'm going to the church for one last service, do you want to come with me?"
Following a brief moment of silence, Aria nodded, and that was the end of the discussion.