Lenaria: The Party Begins CONTINUED

Until Next Time - Part 12

"Eve!" Victor said his sister's name, panicked and worried as the girl walked into the room. He ran up to his sister, frowning deeply when he noticed Evgenia looked rather... rugged.

Did she go on a run?

"Where the heck were you?" Victor asked, taking Evgenia to the desk.

Evgenia sat down, rubbing her tired eyes. When she opened her eyes, Minerva was holding a glass of water to her. The witch graciously took it, chugging the water down in seconds.

"Damn," Adva muttered, "You must've been on a long run if you're that thirsty."

Evgenia let out a sigh as her throat became moistened again.

"Evie," Bella, who was sitting with Adva on their shared bed, quietly asked the girl, "Where were you? When I woke up you were gone. I thought you had gone with the others."

Victor crossed his arms, his frown crossed between anger and worry. He shook his head, "Eve didn't come with us. When we came back with food you were gone and we couldn't find you anywhere in the village!"

Evgenia looked at her brother, her chest getting stabbed with regret. Her brother's eyes were brimming with tears.

Of course he would be worried to death.

Evgenia shouldn't have left without telling someone. Victor probably thought something bad had happened to her. She should've been more careful, should've considered Victor's feelings. They only had each other.

The witch gulped, guiltily looking away, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just left out of the blue like that."

Victor looked away from his sister, painfully glaring at a wall. "It's fine. Just don't do it again."

Evgenia wasn't aware she had been gone that long. It was sunset when she had entered the forest. Now it suddenly had become night.

Everything was just too muddled.

And Evgenia felt exhausted.

The moment she had stepped out of the forest, it felt like a million weights had been dropped on Evgenia. She had felt the force of using her magic on such a large target and it did not feel nice. Evgenia had to drag her legs to get back to the inn.

"I'm sorry," Evgenia sighed, rubbing her temples, "But I'm tired, like really tired."

"At least have something to eat," Minerva pointed out, passing the witch a plate of food. It was... mediocre food but she couldn't complain.

Evgenia nodded, slowly eating away.

In the back of her head, she couldn't get rid of the thought of that woman and her voice.

It nagged at her like an annoying bug.

Just who was that?

...

Sato was refilling his flask, eyeing the bottle when nothing came out. He cursed, tossing the bottle aside and getting up to fetch a new bottle. Feeling his aching joints, Sato wobbled over with his crutch, rummaging through his kitchen for a drink.

His cabinets were empty, great.

Sato knelt down, dropping the crutch at his side. Crawling, he looked through his lower cabinets. In the shadows, way in the back he spotted a wine bottle. Not something he'd drink from a flask but whatever, it'll do.

Grabbing it, Sato moved to get out. "Ow- fuck!" He rubbed his head, glaring at where he bumped his head trying to get out.

"You really should stop drinking," 

Sato grumbled, turning and sitting on the kitchen floor. He unscrewed the cork, deciding to just drink it straight from the bottle.

"Timothy wouldn't like it if he knew you were an alcoholic, Sato."

He didn't say anything, only kept drinking.

It's not like he'll see that boy again. Sato last saw Timothy when he turned his badge in. That boy... he had never looked so angry. So... guilty.

"You can't give up, Sir!"

Those were the last words Timothy said to him. Sato didn't care to look back and see how devastated the boy was, he could already tell from his shaking voice desperately begging for Sato to come back.

Sato groaned, resting his head against the cabinets. Gruffly and quite annoyed, Sato muttered, "Why don't you go back into the basement?"

"It was getting a little stuffy down there." Sato rolled his eyes. Of course that would be their excuse.

Sato closed his eyes, resting his head against the cabinets.

His head pounded, joints ached, and overall he was tired.

It was hard to feel these days. His chest, it ached everyday knowing he was still alive. Barely alive.

"Sato?"

No response.

"Sato, there's a message for you."

He groaned, rubbing his eyes irritably. Sato opened his eyes, flinching when there was a flash of light in front of him. A ribbon of light swirled in front of his face, swishing back and forth like an annoying fly.

Sato cursed.

"Is it that person again?"

It was.

He grabbed the ball of the light, letting it transform into a single sheet of rolled up paper. Unrolling it, he frowned deeply at the writing.

"The witch is here. Bring her to the forest."

The witch?

Oh, the brooding one.

So... they found the one they were looking for this whole time?

Sato sighed, running a hand down his face. He was going to have to use their trust against them.