Dawn. Through an open window, the first light of day pervaded the darkness and brushed against a small foot peeking from a disheveled blanket, a slight tickle. Ariene rubbed her toes together before slipping her foot back under the blanket snugly, hiding from the sun’s line of sight.

Embraced by a soft bed; warmed by a cotton blanket; her cheek resting against fabric instead of brick pavement; such luxuries were almost enough to lull her back into a deep sleep… almost. Ariene’s eyes flew wide open as she suddenly woke up with a startle.

‘It’s not the usual alley…’ she thought. She tried to raise herself when strands of captivatingly dark hair, unwilling to separate, intertwined with her flame tinted locks, pulling her head back. She reached with her fingers and slowly unraveled the twine, her mind still muddled.

 Quietly. Gently. Ariene wasn’t used to this. The feel of a bed, nor… the presence of a companion. What could have led to such an odd awakening? Well… it sure weren’t the culprits people would usually think of. 

What had transpired right as she left the tavern?

Every twist through an alleyway or turn after a path kept bringing her back to the Gold Eye! Bellona District was in such a mess that there existed no straight way back to the upper district, unless of course one was familiar with the path. She could only accept her fate; she didn’t know the way back and had gotten lost.

Ariene returned to the tavern with slumped shoulders, defeated. 

“Uhk. How embarrassing…” Her head quickly warmed as she returned, and her face grew bright red. Thankfully, the tavener, Morrow offered a room to stay the night, with the catch that she had to share it with others—the others being the second potato sack that Roa brought to the tavern, Yuria Illyas, and Roa himself. 

It was either she took the offer, or endured another cold night in an even more unfamiliar alley, pondering life while staring up at the starry sky. It was after she weighed Roa against the rats scurrying about the alleys that she immediately accepted.

When she finished untangling her hair, Yuria was still in peaceful slumber, with no hint of concern on her face for sharing a bed. Ariene was amazed.

She glanced over at where Roa had slept: a wooden chair and desk by the door, with a burnt out candle he used to read late into the night. He had stayed by the door to ease any and all misgivings about them sleeping here; the gesture was enough to deem him worthy of some form of trust.

‘Hm? Where’s he gone?’ Ariene mused. A look out the yard from the window—fleeting mists of air visible underneath a tree—there Roa was, laden with sweat, in the middle of vigorous exercise. It seemed he had woken up an hour ago, if not earlier. 

‘He shouldn’t have gotten a wink of sleep,’ Ariene thought. The boy’s behavior was abnormal.

In the middle of the night, at times Ariene would wake to a sudden shout, but feign slumber while keeping an open ear to Roa restlessly fidgeting in his chair. It seemed he was having nightmares, what about, horrifying or traumatic, she couldn’t imagine. Whenever he awoke, he would simply lull himself back to sleep with a gentle tune.

It was intriguing how the boy that approached her with a dumb smile—that had bested her in a match of both steel and mana, and possessed bloated ambitions—would have such an unexpected vulnerability.

Ariene perched her chin on her hand. She took in a breath of morning air as she observed Roa’s training session from the window.

‘Hm… We just met, why does this person want me in his party?’

What drove him, she wondered? Could there be a deeper motive behind his actions? Maybe Ariene would take up the offer to form a party just to sate her curiosity, just within the academy. But what about afterwards?

‘I’ll consider it then.’ She wanted to further observe this boy called Roa Fariche before making her decision.