Vitae Memorandum

52-Deserved Vacation

After everything that had occurred, it should not have been surprising for the next thing the four of them to be aware of is waking up in their beds late the next morning. Having been more than just exhausted, sleep had taken over regardless of whatever else they might have otherwise planned.

The four of them did however stir from their beds at around the same time. It was a very welcoming feeling, even if the beds were of much less quality than they had grown used to. Lwyn herself knew that the quality had seriously plummeted, and yet she still missed this feeling so much. It was the feeling of home.

Mhyl had actually fallen asleep during the escape while using her gift, the last of her stamina crumbling away, leaving the whole structure to manage on it's own natural design, herself still uncertain how the whole facility had moved there in the first place. Lwyn had faded next, barely capable of registering they were safe, before sleep overtook her. She was in fact fortunate she had made it safely to the floor, for once. Thanrie and Qheria had tried to bring the two elf-kinds to a more comfortable location, but sleep had overtaken them before their own successes. It was then Rhyde, who ensured that all of them had at least safely made it into bed.

Lwyn's first impulse upon waking up was to start tidying up. How long has it been since she was allowed to organize her own stuff? Even though it was yet another of her standard outfits, she took it out with pride in having selected it for herself. Finally, she felt free once again. The others tended to themselves as they watched Lwyn. Clearly, their rescue was all too successful, they had brought Lwyn back, and she was doing much better.

Once ready to face the day, the four of them left the room. There, they found Sxeiva being questioned by everyone else. They had totally forgotten that there was someone else in the rescue team, and no introductions had been made. Lwyn rushed into the scene. "Woah, woah, woah, stop! She's with us, okay?" "Uh, okay. If you say so. She should really take some of that creepy stuff off though, it's weird." "It is not weird, she needs that stuff to stay alive. Don't insult mother that way!" Lwyn was being really protective of her mother, disliking how people were already judging her for being different. It reminded her too much of the hatred behind half-elves, another feature her mother also had. Ehryinae however had an awkward expression shift into utter shock.

"This.. wait.. how? Isn't... Wasn't... Wouldn't..." Ehryinae couldn't even finish a thought. She was stuck realizing the implications of someone being identified as Lwyn's mother, which would also be the Arch-Magus' daughter, who was supposedly dead. She looked like she had seen a ghost. It also prompted an opportunity to share with everyone what had gone on while the four of them had been away. It had been a long time, after all, a whole lunar cycle.

Another meeting was set up, giving the four of them the chance to discuss everything they had gone through. In return, Rhyde covered some of the things the four of them had missed. The hunting party that had tried to track the four girls down.. the bandits taken captive, who had spilled the beans on taking Lwyn to the Fortress themselves. From there, plenty of work to build up the facility into a true mobile base, while Xyithy tried to break into the Fortress and setup her own rescue. Xyithy couldn't even get into the Fortress, so had to return unsuccessful. Ehryinae had then compelled everyone into a rescue more of her own design.

Somehow, the idea that Ehryinae was the one who had thought of breaking through the fortress directly explained so much of what had happened. It was alarming to realize that, had the four girls not stepped in, the results would have been a disaster. However, in a pure reversal, had they not arrived like that, the four girls might have been hard-pressed for an opportunity to escape. You could say it was a wide round of good fortune. Thanrie however looked towards Sxeiva, finally blending in better with everyone else. Nothing about this was as simple as chance, Sxeiva had even been able to predict it.