Somewhere, just outside the tavern...

She had the presence of mind to grab the bottle of vodka round the neck just as she side-stepped around Corbin in her attempt to flee the suddenly uncomfortable situation. He didn’t stop her, though a glance over her shoulder and a look at his face, just as she rounded the corner of the bar to the back door, told her everything she needed to know about his supposed “[i]good guy[/i]” act. He looked like he could barely contain his anger, as if she had delivered a blow to his ego that could never be forgiven. And all for what -- because she refused to drink with him or to sit down and chat? 

The audacity of his entitlement carried her through the backrooms of the tavern on a dark mist of frustration. A heady feeling floated through her veins, up through her blood, and into her brain, causing a heady sensation that was reminiscent of a runner's high, which supported her just beyond the threshold of the back exist and out into the crisp, cold, night air.

Back outside…

There was a moment of disappointment. With the bottle hanging at her side, clutched in a halfhearted grip, and her lashes already thick with drew-drops gathered from the fog, she stood there pondering at the failure of her convictions. She was supposed to have marched right back out to Roen, to face her destiny once and for all -- and here she was, right back where she started. 

“Long live the queen,” she said quietly to the night in a mocking tone, her free hand reaching up to wipe away the gathered droplets on her brows and lashes, drawing them away, until they rolled down her cheeks like tears. And then, drying them off with the back of her hand. 

She didn’t care who came after her -- Corbin, wanting to reclaim his wounded honor, or Anath Homura wanting to restore her own damaged honor. Whatever the case, Gabriela would deal with them. Her fingertips brushed along the handle of a small dagger, strapped along the left side of her rib cage, inside her blouse. Yes, it was still in place along with the other three hidden upon her person in strategic positions. 

Down she went, walking along the dirt path -- away from the tavern and toward the sweet smell of fresh water. The night was cold, and it felt all the more frigid as she left the warm glow of the tavern lights behind her. Deeper into the dark of the night and the silver-white light of the full moon. Along a clearly marked path that was obviously used during the daylight hours and when the weather was favorable by the tavern patrons to enjoy the lakeside for recreational use. However, there was no one out tonight, save for the creatures of the night, and even they turned to flee from the monster that walked amongst them tonight. 

And so Gabriela was left alone. 

The mist, the rain, and the ugliness from before had lifted or had grown heavy enough to be sticking low to the ground. The heavens had opened up, and the night sky was a display of celestial bodies that mocked her with a dazzling arrangement of constellations that indicated a hundred directions, but not a single one that she recognized. Inside, she had heard someone comment about how the tavern was some sort of magic and that the surrounding lands could somehow accommodate whatever the needs of each individual person. Made sense, it was always night for her. And yet, the stars that she so desperately wanted to see -- the ones that would point to the existence of the home that she remembered -- were beyond the scope of magic. Perhaps because they were long dead now. 

The thought made her sit on the sandy shore. The waters of the lake were still, and therefore, like a mirror, reflecting the starry sky from above. The universe seemed to expand and stretch out further than could ever be imagined. And she sat there, at the edge of it all, a small form, a small child. She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on the top of her hands. Her golden eyes, dull with sadness, followed the stars from the surface of the lake up into the night sky and tried to make sense of the patterns. 

The bottle of vodka sat at her side, for now, forgotten. 


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