44 You'll never be alone again
"S, -So that means it'll just be the two of us, right?!" Aranea says to Drew who's laughing nervously. Compared to Lu who he asked out and to Aranea who's asking him out, he's significantly more tensed and embarrassed by Aranea that he's having a hard time getting the words out.
He doesn't understand this strange feeling in him at first, but as he stares at her he realizes what this sensation is.
It's the same feeling of happiness he got when Cecil went on a rant on him back in Aspen.
"Yeah, it can't be helped if these two don't want to come with. Their loss~" Drew smiles as he looks towards the two girls sitting at the bench.
"We won't be losing a lot that's for sure," Lu nonchalantly responds with a smirk on her face.
"There's no end to your sass is there?" He lets out a long and tired sigh.
"With you? No, there isn't~" Her eyes gleam with joy as she snickers.
Just as Drew's about to go on a small tirade on Lu's foul attitude, he sees Caron in the distance with Basil and Hagurd closely by his side. Drew almost didn't recognize his friend because of how dimly lit the corridor is where the three guys are.
In addition to that, Caron is wearing Finny which made Drew think that the sentient hat got jealous that Aranea is wearing something else other than him.
"Caron! Over here!" Drew shouts while waving his right arm up in the air to get his colleague's attention and it does. Caron turns to face them and shows that he's helping Hagurd and Basil stay upright by having their arms on his shoulders.
"Drew! You don't know how much you got all of us worried! B, -But uh can you come here instead? I need your help! Hagurd weighs a ton!" Caron shouts from the open corridor.
"Ghrmm- I'm not that heavy," Hagurd grumbles while pulling his weight on Caron.
"Mmm- Aranea, is that you? You're a lot cuter with rosebud colored eyes~" Basil, in the haze of his drunkenness, mistakes Caron for Aranea.
"Please don't do anything you might regret later," Caron says while doing his best to keep his sweet smile.
Drew and Aranea made their way over to them and the first thing Aranea does is scold her father for drinking again which surprises Drew as he takes Hagurd off Caron.
His shock turns to joy and a smile forms on his face as he sees this old man receive a barrage of sermons from his concerned daughter. Drew wants to congratulate Hagurd for mending his relationship with Aranea, but he feels that the old man should at least enjoy this moment with his daughter without interruption.
"Looks like you three had a blast in the city," Melissa says as she and Lu join the rest of the group as they head back to the dormitory building.
They make sure to stay quiet now that they're in the dormitories as to not wake up the vestals. As they made their way across the wide hallway, they're met with some that are patrolling.
Aranea informs them that they're dorm mothers, vestals that patrol the dormitories to check up on their sisters and protect them from any dangers that may happen at night.
These dorm mothers carry with them bronze lanterns that help illuminate their way as they make their rounds.
Drew thought that they would be strict because of his own experience living in a dorm back in the military college. To his surprise though, the dorm mothers are quite sweet and laid back. With gentle smiles on their faces, they greet them with a good evening as they pass by one another.
"Alright this is our stop here, I'll see you girls tomorrow. C'mon Drew, help Hagurd to his bed." Caron opens the door to a room with two bunk beds on each side and a fairly large window at the center.
"Also you, shouldn't you go back to your owner?" Caron looks up to Finny and the hat grumbles.
"So, it is because Aranea's wearing a veil?" Drew asks smirking at the jealous witch hat.
"Shut up! The reason I didn't come with Aranea is 'cause I didn't want to get in the way of her making new friends!" Finny argues. He still remembers Lu's on words and since then has taken them as advice to help Aranea. He does feel a bit lonely that things are changing for Aranea which leaves less room for him to talk to her.
"F, -Finny," Aranea whimpers.
"O, -Oi what're you getting teary-eyed for!? Don't cry, you big baby!" The witch hat frantically waves its two front legs at Aranea but it's too late, the girl's already bawling her eyes out.
Aranea grabs Finny and embraces him while dousing him with her comically large tears.
Drew's a little taken aback, not by Aranea's crying but by Caron's new hair color. It's bright pink.
"W, -What did you do to your hair? N, -No, why did you do that to your hair!?" Drew stares in disbelief at his friend's strange choice to dye his hair in the color that matches with his rosebud-colored eyes.
"Is it bad to say that I'm doing this to hide my true identity? I mean it might not work but I'm hoping it does," Caron says. His ever-present smile becomes ten times, no- a hundred times more cute now that his hair is pink.
"R, -Right, understandable. Anyways we should get Hagurd and Basil to bed."
"We're also going to head off to our rooms as well, goodnight you two," Melissa says as she and Lu drag Aranea's whimpering self out of the boys' room.
"Goodnight as well," The two say before helping their drunk mates to bed, with Drew having a much more difficult time because of Hagurd's overall size and weight. Caron wasn't exaggerating when he said that the old man is heavy.
"So, care to tell me where you were for the past six days?" Caron asks.
"I'm not so sure myself since I was unconscious for the past six days after overtaxing my body and getting vis corrosion from it," Drew answers alarming Caron. However, before his friend could start ranting Drew holds his hand up. "But I'm fine now since Lu's been treating me in those past six days."
"Can I ask? I get you're doing this for Melissa, and I can sympathize with you in that regard, but why are you siding with the witches?
I saw the Cerulean Witch in the plaza and to me, it looked like you and that archdemon are working with her," Caron voices out his concerns and unintentionally shows his interest in Melissa.
Suddenly, just as Drew's about to explain himself to Caron, he remembers what Melissa said to Lu back in the café. His eyes widen at the realization and he rushes towards the door but stops to turn to look at Caron.
"I'm sorry, but I'll give you the details when I get back! There's something important I need to do first!" Drew says as he leaves the room sprinting.
'Please, let me make it in time.' It wasn't just Lu who took notice of Melissa's strange behavior, Drew also picked up on it not too long ago and has been piecing things together since then.
He wants to beat his head against a column for not noticing sooner.
'Of course she'd be preparing to take revenge. Why did I assume that wasn't the case, why did I think she'd already moved on from it.' As he makes a dead sprint across the hallway he gets the attention of the dorm mothers who tells him to stop because he's making too much noise. He ignores them and continues running while thinking where the two could be.
He feels his body grow heavy from fatigue which he mistakes as the guilt of his arrogance for thinking that Melissa could easily forget about taking revenge on the one witch that has led her down the lonely path of retribution.
Just as Drew's about to slow down and catch his breath, he sees Hauche in the middle of the hallway. Treating it as a sign, he doesn't let up and runs towards the calibiso.
Hauche scurries to the left just as Drew's about to reach her and he too rounds the same corner. There he sees Lu and Melissa standing in the hallway that's illuminated only by the moonlight that spills in from the large windows.
"What're you doing here?" Lu asks the panting Drew who's leaning against a stone column.
"Did you honestly think I forgot my promise? B, -Besides, you're not the only one who owes Melissa both an explanation and an apology," Drew adds.
Lu clicks her tongue as she turns her gaze away from Drew. Right now, he's the last person she wants to see dipping into this matter. Although, somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that he'll find a way to get involved.
