Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

Don wrapped her in a towel and pulled her out of the bathtub. One eye struggled to open, the other still squeezed shut from fatigue and what she recognized as hangover pain.

Her bare feet touched the tiles, and she felt a weak, aching feeling in her legs from being curled up in the tub for what felt like hours. Her body felt a hundred pounds heavier, and she was almost certain she was going to throw up.

She couldn't have possibly drunk even more after the drinks she had yesterday, did she? She couldn't remember the last time she had such an incredibly horrible hangover like this, if ever.

"Selan... are you... are you okay?" Don asked, eyeing them both in the mirror with concern as he guided her out of the bathroom.

"... Going to be sick..." Selan mumbled, barely moving her mouth at all to speak. A frail hand pulled the towel tighter around her body, wanting not so much the coverage but the warmth it provided her clammy skin.

She looked around the unfamiliar room half-blindedly, not quite realizing that this wasn't her hotel room, and the fact that she was in a bathtub all night hadn't quite registered. But the light filtering in through the open door to the balcony quite literally shed some light on the fact that things were very, very, unusually wrong.

And then she heard the sound as well.

"Uhhu.... uhhuaaah...!"



Selan nearly fainted right then and there.

"There's a baby in here. There's a baby in here. Don, there's a baby in here..." she repeated, each time her voice growing in urgency and confusion, and her eyebrows raised higher and higher, and her eyes opened wider and wider. Not being in the right state of mind to absorb information like this, it took several moments to reconcile every single way the baby couldn't possibly be hers.

Rushing as best as she could on weary limbs and an unsettled stomach, she dropped to her knees in front of the basket, finally seeing the full extent of the damage to the hotel room, as well as the shattered glass littered around the basket's vicinity.

"Oh, oh... It's okay..." Selan murmured as she carefully lifted the bundled baby out of the basket. The baby nestled into the space between her shoulder and neck and continued whining.

"Don, what is going on...?" Selan said to the astonished-looking man in a hushed voice, trying (and failing) to keep calm and not stress out the crying infant in her arms.

She almost felt like crying herself.

Fine. The word sounded foreign in his ears, and judging by how tense Dylan looked--by how confused he himself felt, it was clear that things were not fine. The matter artist started babbling, and his voice squeaked, cracked, and it sounded so unnatural. Something had happened, he could see it in his friends searching gaze. But what that something was, well, he didn't know. He closed his eyes, dug deep into his mind for answers, but nothing came.

There was the pounding of music, the faint smell of alcohol...the pretty blonde, but nothing about how they wound up nearly naked and in the same bed.

“You don’t remember either?”

"No, no," he tried to inject his words with optimism, tried to give them their usual cheer, but at the moment he couldn't and even Dylan looked absolutely confused. "Well...there was a pretty blonde. Pickup lines...and I don't know." Suddenly his eyes went wide and terror shot through him. "What...it couldn't have been you, yeah?" He forced a chuckle, but the situation they were in was starting to scare him. Dylan remembered not much more than he did, Lucien stared as his friend dashed to grab his clothes.

Suddenly, Lucien remembered his own lack of clothing. He stood awkwardly, in blue boxers with panda bears all over them. He paled then rushed to put on his pants then his shirt. In his haste his shirt was inside out. If the situation hadn't been so awkward he would have laughed at how silly he and Dylan were dressed.

“Lucy, I don’t know what happened last night. I can’t remember how we got here...or why.”

The atmosphere was heavy. It felt like he would choke. "Neither do I...but, it was probably...I mean, maybe we were so drunk we just decided to crash in the same room? Yeah, yeah, that could be it." Just hearing himself speak those words chased some of the confusion away. There was just no way, last night, he only had eyes for the pretty blonde. D-Dina? Dyna? Dylan. Screw this, he couldn't remember. "Let's calm down," he flashed a nervous grin, there wasn't much else to say. "There just has to be an explanation, yeah?" Lucien fiddled with his sleeves, his insides churning. He felt like he had been tossed into a horror movie.



"Mommy, why does that clown look so grumpy? Aren't they s'posed to be happy?"

Xan walked passed them, taking long, strides. She didn't remember anything at all, and her head pounded with each step. They had gone to the bar...she had a drink with Aria then everything after that was a blur, an incoherent mess. Images of the sand castle flashed inside her head. There was only one explanation, Aria and Thunderhawk. She quickened her pace, but it was hard in soggy shoes that were two sizes too big. Xan rushed past confused looking tourists in her dripping clown suit, colorful words and drawings all over her face, neck and arm. "They better have an explanation," she grumbled.

Suddenly, not too far away, she heard a shriek then a yell.

The metallurgist turned, then ran as fast as she could in her silly clown shoes. She weaved her way through the crowd, past the annoyed looking tourists and snickering passersby.

"What is wrong with you, running off like that?"

Aria. She was sure of the. Xan walked past a small crowd and stopped right in front of both Thunderhawk and her friend. The sight before her only made her head ache some more. Aria was in Thunderhawk's clothes and he was in a dress. "What on earth?" Her eyes went steely and she clenched both her fists. Breathe in. Breathe out. Stay calm. If this was some prank...if this was some JOKE, she was going to! Her fingers twitched and she stared at them, waiting for someone to say something, anything, as long as it made sense.

Los Paraisos: Streets

The streaking ranger collapsed in a heap after the bewildering surprise of his body suddenly being magically enveloped in a dress. He tripped by the sudden shock, somersaulting forwards, and hitting pavement. Hard. Aria’s scarf gently wafted down on top of his head.

“What is wrong with you, running off like that? Naked, too!” Aria scolded, her mind awash with pain and fatigue from her own hangover. In contrast, Thunderhawk was used to always being perpetually hungover, so the exertion didn’t affect him so much, even if he had been sober for a while. No, something else most certainly did hurt him right now.

“If you don’t get up I’m leaving you behind. Naked.” Aria sighed, nudging Thunderhawk’s unmoving body with a foot. He didn’t react, instead staying balled up in a foetal position, his face gripped in pain. “Huh?”

The dress Aria had conjured up was only merely an optical illusion – the fabric didn’t really exist. Thunderhawk had fell, and landed hard – right on his most prized possession.

“Give me… a minute…” Thunderhawk wheezed.

"What on earth?" Another voice split apart the street, as much to Aria and Thunderhawk’s surprise (who was able to barely look out the corner of his eye) Xandra, in a soaking wet clown outfit and comically huge red shoes squeaked down the pavement to them. Her appearance was as utterly bizarre and confusing as Thunderhawk and Aria’s clothes swapping own – with marker filled scribbles doodled all over her arm and face, and the white and black paint that had been used to dress Xandra’s face with seeping and draining down, to look as if she was almost crying. Poor poor sad clown.

And poor Thunderhawk, who still could not move.

“What the hell… happened… to you…?” Thunderhawk groaned at Xandra, then turning his attention to Aria. “And why are you… wearing my clothes…? Did… did we…?”

His face flopped down onto the hard pavement. Gods why?

“And where the hell… did this dress… come from…?”

---

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel: Room ???

Don stared at the scene of Selan and the baby before him, absolutely stupefied and unable to even begin to explain where the baby came from or what had happened. He and Selan hadn’t, had they? Why, they hadn’t even got married yet! How could they have a baby?

He was scared. Stuck rigid to the spot, unable to move, unable to do anything as Selan hurriedly rushed to the baby’s side and picked him up, cradling him in her arms in a desperate plea to soothe the baby’s frightened cries. He was able to stand up and be strong against lots and lots of things… but a baby was tiny. So, so tiny, and frail and weak. And Don… Don knew he did a lot of stupid things that were out of his control. He didn’t want to do anything to risk hurting it…

“Waaa… waa… wa… …” Slowly but surely, the baby stopped crying, instead calming down and relaxing as he looked up at the woman nursing him. A woman who reminded him of his mother. He felt content and relaxed, and mumbled a soft gurgle.

"Don, what is going on...?" Selan asked with desperation pouring out of her.

“I… I don’t know! I don’t know what’s going on!” Don replied, holding his hands up. He did a lot of stupid things, but he was innocent of this, really! …he hoped? “I don’t remember anything that happened last night, I swear! The… the last thing I remember was us eating at the restaurant! And then… er… my head feels funny… what was I saying…?”

Selan just stared at him.

“Oh, right! And then I woke up, went into the bathroom… and then saw this!!” Don ripped the towel of his head to reveal the shocking surprise awaiting them that fuelled his initial loud pitched scream that started this whole chain of events.



“AH!” Don suddenly realised he showed Selan the most embarrassing and uncool thing in the world, and quickly wrapped the towel around his head again and buried his head in tears and shame. He felt to his knees, bawling like a baby. The baby in Selan’s arms shared the same expression the songstress did as they watched him.

“First my hair, now a baby! What did we do, Selan?!” Don wailed. “What did we dooooo?!”

Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

“First my hair, now a baby! What did we do, Selan?!” Don wailed at the ceiling, giant teardrops falling from his eyes. “What did we dooooo?!”

Selan's jaw was still dropped at the sight of Don's new "look". Her eyes drifted slightly upward, and she could have swarn that the center of his scalp was reflecting sunlight. It occurred to her that she might be getting a glimpse of "Future Don", unfortunate hairline and all.

Her mouth suddenly began to tremble, and Don thought that she was about to start yelling at him...

"Ha... hahahaha!!" Selan burst out laughing, with a touch of exasperation behind the sound. "We're... haha... in such a mess... hahaha... Waking up in a room that isn't ours, with a baby that isn't ours..."

Her laughter ceased almost as quickly as it came, as did Don's sobbing. Reality sunk in as best as it could with a hangover.
"Okay... okay. First thing's first... Don, put some pants on, please. And look for some clothes I could wear while you're at it? Maybe we can find out whose room this is, they could be the baby's parents."

It seemed clear that Selan didn't trust Don to look after the baby by himself, at least not right away. And despite the idea being to comfort the baby, Selan herself was comforted by the feeling of holding the small child, drool and all. It helped that he was no longer upset, but at the same time she couldn't help but wonder how the baby came to be in their "care". Did they steal a baby...?

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel - Moira and Syed's room

Once Syed lifted his arms over his head and quietly reassured Amy that he couldn't approach her any further, she relaxed her grip - but the fear never left her eyes. She had allowed her arm to droop, loosening the tautness of her whip, as if ready to recall the weapon. Still it flickered brightly, humming and burning with energy. Her eyes watched his movements with distrust.

"What happened?" he said.

"I don't understand," he said.

Though he spoke calmly, Amy more than recognized the worry laced with his words. No. No, she couldn't remember anything from the previous night either. But the fact that she was clothesless bar the snow white bedsheets wrapped around her, the fact that she had woken up inches away from a man under the blankets with her, the fact that she had to yank her leg free from his when she escaped that bed - immediately she extended her arm out again, the trembling gem held in Syed's direction. Her whip threatened the room with a snarl.

Get the fuck away from me...

He had shuffled away from the bed to read something, much too far for Amy herself to see. Then he hunkered over, trembling wildly just as Amy was. He spoke again, his constrained calmness dripping away by the second, but the cleric heard not a word that escaped his lips. Her own frenzied heartbeat drowned out any other noise in the room. Whatever that paper was sent him spiraling into paranoia himself.

Then she noticed it. Her hand. Her hand gripping onto her gem, her precious weapon. Her finger. A ring. ... A ring!? The only rings Amy owned were two golden circlets, nowhere to be found along with the rest of her jewelery. This one was silver. Silver, with some undefinable engraved writing along the surface. Just like the one Syed...

"Oh, gods..."

Amy gripped even tighter onto the bedsheets she clasped with her other hand. In one fell movement she slumped towards the door, sliding her arm along the peachy wall to keep herself afoot. She dropped her precious gem - its animated light-whip receding into its sheath upon landing in her floored emerald dress - and fumbled for the doorknob, the exit from this hell, with her one free hand. But her palm slipped and slid all across its metallic surface. Once she managed to wrap her fingers along the knob, she hastily tried to turn it.

"Where's Trixie," she wheezed, her voice fraught with shivers. "Where's Trixie. Where's Trixie."

Turn and turn and turn. But the door never opened. Her churning hand merely ran circles around the doorknob, the only obstacle to breaking out from this hell.

Voices swamped her mind - her own voices, contending against one another for who controlled her thoughts, her reaction. It - nothing happened. Nothing could have happened. Surely she would've remembered something as horrifying as that - and Syed couldn't remember either. Neither of them could remember. So nothing happened. Nothing happened! But then her fucking clothes - those fucking rings - these fucking games all over the floor. They... but she couldn't remember anything. She couldn't remember. She remembered no fear. She remembered no pain. Yet... yet all the evidence was right fucking there in front of them. What was she supposed to believe?

She hadn't even noticed Moira flopping herself over on the bed, sleeping as soundly as someone could sleep in this situation.

No. No it's - they can't remember anything. She opened her mouth to reassure herself, to reassure Syed - to mostly reassure herself - but her conscious doubled over. The door would not open. She was trapped. And Trixie - Trixie wasn't there to bust her out. She let her guard down, she let her comfort and trust run free with these people, and...

"I'm - I'm done. I don't want to play guilder anymore." Where was that stupid little girl now? She promised. She promised to protect her. She promised. And yet she was not there. She was not there and - oh gods. "I'm done. This isn't fun anymore. Where's Trixie. I'm done. I can't do this anymore." She continued churning her hand around the doorknob with no luck. "I'm done, I'm done with this, I'm done."

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel - ??? Room

“Yes, yes that must be it.” He nodded vigorously. “We were drunk, we crashed, and it’s very hot on this island. We must have just...gotten comfortable. That’s it.” He pulled on his shirt, taking much more care now that he felt a little less like a creep. “And if I cuddle well sorry, but I’m a cuddler, I’d cuddle a bear if it wasn’t going to bite my head off and oh gods I’m babbling again.”

"Let's calm down,"Lucien flashed a nervous grin, there wasn't much else to say. "There just has to be an explanation, yeah?"

Dylan turned away from Lucy, searching the floor for his jacket...which wasn’t there. “Dammit! Must have left it at the club. If we went to a club. Hey!” He snapped his fingers. “Maybe the others know what happened, what do you think? Where are they?” He glanced around, trying to figure out where exactly they were. “But first, I think I’m going to need some water.”

Los Paraisos: Pellagio hotel - Moira and Syed's room
There were no assurances, no words of comfort. Nothing at all. Did that mean they did? That had to mean they did, right?

The arcs of electricity grew, jumping from him and travelling across the walls, across the ceilings. "No, no we can't, we can't..." he whispered, becoming more and more frantic by the second. "I never would have..." His mind span and span and span, not stopping for even a second. He wanted to have a shower, to scrub and scrub and scrub until he could actually feel clean. He wanted to be sick. He felt the need to just purge himself somehow, as much as he knew it wouldn't help. With his bond to Moira, and her still being asleep, he could do neither.

Amy still looked scared, she still looked so scared. He wanted to try and say something to calm her down, but how could he do that when he was just as panicky himself? How could he do that when he wouldn't believe his own words?

He felt cold, he felt invaded right through to his core, but seeing her reactions - seeing her wrestling frantically with the door - she looked even worse than he felt. She looked desperate, she looked horrified, she looked vunerable. Had he done that to her? He fell to his knees, hugging himself tightly. He must have, he must have. But it made no sense to him, none at all. How could he do something so completely against who he was? Tears finally began to streak down his face. He didn't understand. He couldn't understand.

"I'm - I'm done. I don't want to play guilder anymore. I'm done. This isn't fun anymore. Where's Trixie. I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I'm done, I'm done with this, I'm done."

He looked up again slowly with reddened eyes. He didn't blame her for wanting to leave. He certainly did. Although right now she needed something to assure her - more than probably any time he had known her before. He swallowed. He only just realised quite how dry his throat was.

"Y-yeah. Yeah, this kind of stuff is never on the pamphlet."

Idiot! Idiot! How is joking supposed to help?

"I-I mean, I mean I never wanted to sign up anyway, but it's not like I had any choice," he added hurriedly. Wait, how was that supposed to help either?! If Moira were awake she'd be punching him out by now. "What am I doing, you don't want to hear this now, what am I doing... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Breathe. Just breathe. Calm down now, before you bloody set the place alight. He scrunched his eyes shut, sniffling. Just breathe. Just. Breathe.

The arcs of electricity slowly began to die down, the rattling and buzzing which filled the room quietening to nothing. He was in no fit state to try and calm her down, so don't even try. Just don't.

"I'm sure Trixie's fine," he said finally, sparking up a little but nowhere near the degree he was a moment ago. Well... he hoped she was fine. He was still shaking all over, he still felt disgusting and terrible and his voice still cracked. But the less he thought about that the better. "The door's probably locked, Moira's really d-defensive about her stuff. She never leaves doors unlocked ever." He absent-mindedly attempted and failed to remove the ring again, before he caught himself. He wiped at his face to try and dry it. "If... if you want, I could look for the key while you use the bathroom," he offered, averting his eyes towards one of the piles of clothes on the floor. "Save you going out there like that..."



"NNNNNNNNNNRGH!" Moira groaned, as good timing as ever. What the hell was with all these lights and this noise and the odd movements under the bed? Everything hurt. She knew hangovers as well as the back of her hand, but this one was probably a medal winner. "Fuckin' hell..."

She slowly sat up, but even then the movement was a bit too much for her. Bile quickly rose in her throat, and the next thing she knew she was leaning over the bed ejecting her stomach contents onto the floor. Uuuuuuuurgh this was a bad one, this was a really bad one.

Wait a minute.

"What the hell are you doing under there?!" she exclaimed, shuffling a little to finally release the archer trapped beneath.

Los Paraisos: Streets

"What on earth?"

Uh oh.

Aria froze at that familiar voice, unwilling to turn around to face Xan. She was no doubt going to get a lecture from the stern girl about getting drunk off her feet and waking up in strange places and how she deserved it, followed up by a report to Tiberius or something similar. Or maybe instead of reports, Xan would hold this little incident as blackmail the next time she tried to skip a job.

Wincing, she turned slowly only to gape at the state her friend was in. The usually down to earth Xan was clad in a dripping and muddy clown outfit, complete with large red shoes, sagging frills and makeup dripping down her face. Aria’s eyes scanned over the marker scribbles all over her face and arms, and back to the young woman’s understandably upset look.

Aria, while normally might have burst laughing, was in too much shock to even move for a moment, only broken out of her reverie by the pained groans from the ranger by her foot who she had all but nearly forgotten about.

“What the hell… happened… to you…? And why are you… wearing my clothes…? Did… did we…?” His face flopped back onto the ground. “And where the hell… did this dress… come from…?”

She deadpanned down at him. “The dress came from me not wanting to be associated with a pervert running down the street naked.” Then she peered at him questioningly. “Did we? Did we what?” What did he mean by that? The only logical reason for her to wake up wearing his clothes and him wearing her scarf is that last night they obviously-

Oh.

OH.

OHHOLYGODSABOVENONONONONOWAYTHEREWASNOWAY

Her face reddened and her expression shifted into something between anger and mortification, hands tightening around her scarf until her knuckles were white. Did they? No, there was no way, right? Even if she had been drunk out of her wits to do something like that was impossible. Flirting was acceptable, maybe even a little bit of kissing, but that? Nope. Nopenopenope. She couldn't tell whether the nausea was from the thought or the hangover.

“Ha- haha, you’re funny Chirps,” she managed to choke out, fingers twitching . After realizing what the man had been insinuating she was flat out refusing to look at him, eyes instead trained on an advertisement proclaiming the sale of some nearby shop. “Of course we didn’t. Nope. Just because we’re wearing each other’s clothes doesn’t mean anything. Now let’s go back already so I can go take a shower and get changed into something that doesn’t smell like booze!” She whipped around and started walking, not caring at all that if Chirps failed to follow he’d end up in nothing but his birthday suit again. “C’mon Xan, let’s go!”

"Yeah...yeah," Lucien nodded his head, the confusion ebbing away. Dylan was right, that had to be it, right? The summoner fumbled with the sleeves of his sweater then kept the nervous smile plastered to his face. He was feeling better, but his head was still pounding. How much did he drink? If he remembered right, he had stuck to soda and like one glass of wine. Well, maybe two, but that was it. He wasn't very fond of alcohol, after all, so how the hell did he wind up with a killer hangover?

The more he thought, the more his head pounded. In the end he decided to give up on thinking. He was satisfied with their conclusion because the alternative would have made things awkward. Dylan looked around before stating he had left something behind, the summoner arched an eyebrow in question but before he could follow up with a question Dylan suggested the go find the others and this made Lucien brighten up. A grin, genuine though somewhat weary lit up his face and he rubbed at his heck with a soft chuckle.

"Sounds like a plan, I don't remember anything." He shut his eyes then sighed. "Maybe we can knock on their doors....or check the lobby?" Gah...his head. He'd definitely make sure to stick to soda after what had happened. "Sure, sure, go ahead." Lucien stared at his inside out shirt and made a face. He pulled off his shirt, fixed it up then put it back on. That was better. "Okay, let's go shed some light on this confusion." The summoner walked out the door then waited for Dylan. "Do you remember anyone's room number?"



Aria stared at her and she stared back. What was there to say in crazy situations like this?

This was the most insane mission she had ever been sent on and she didn't know how to react. The awkward staring continued until Thunderhawk broke the silence.

“What the hell… happened… to you…? And why are you… wearing my clothes…? Did… did we…?”

Xan blinked at both of them. "What happened to me...? What happened to the both of you?" It was only then when she noticed Aria in Thunderhawk's clothes and the latter in one of Aria's dresses. Did they what? Suddenly, her friend turned as red as tomato and Xan understood what the ranger was implying. She nearly choked, the heat rising to her face as well. Was this supposed to be private? Was she supposed to be hearing any of this? She stared at them like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to say or do.

"--with a pervert running down the street naked.”

"Now let’s go back already so I can go take a shower--."

“C’mon Xan, let’s go!”

"W-What? " Her aching head made her a tad spacy and as a result she only got bits and pieces out of the conversation. Xan groaned, why were Thunderhawk and Aria so fond of alcohol?This felt horrible. She felt like she wanted to curl into a ball and shut her eyes tight. The girl trailed after her friend, too tired to give a lecture and too out of it to say anything else.

Los Paraisos

Thunderhawk weakly climbed to his feet, unable to do much but follow after Aria and Xandra as the former led them back towards their hotel. Pain still coursed throughout his body, beginning at both his top and lower most extremities, and it took him every piece of strength he had just to walk. His hand weakly stretched out towards the two women.

“Hotel… sleep… sounds good… but… Aria… give me my clothes…” The ranger weakly muttered again. “You… can have your dress back…”

Before Aria could reply, the threesome found their run shortlived, as the main street that led towards the Pellagio Hotel was blocked off. The entire street was cordoned off, with resort police, firemen, and onlookers all surrounding a burnt out husk of a building, charred black with ash and debris. Dark smoke still wafted high in the air, even though the fire had been extinquished a couple of hours earlier.

"Wait..." Thunderhawk groaned. "Isn't that... the restaurant?"

The Hell's Kitchen restaurant had been burnt to cinders.

---

Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

Selan’s laughter made Don want to break into more pitiful tears, but he couldn’t help but stop to laugh as well. The beautiful songstress laughter was infectious, and even despite Don’s dilemma, he was glad to see Selan appear cheerful… even if it was done in desperation. He soon cheered up, brushing the snot dripping from his nose and slapping his cheeks to waken himself up. This was no time to be feeling sorry for himself. They needed to find out what was going on, and find out who this baby was and where its parents were! And they needed some clothes, too!

“Roger!!” Don’s fist snapped up, and he began dashing about the room. Said search was almost shortlived after he almost brought his foot down on some erstwhile scattered pieces of glass, but he was lucky to avoid them just in time and circle around them. He headed for the bedroom – if there was any better place for where clothes would be held, he didn’t know it. He skidded in, unsurprised to find the bedroom looking like a bombsite as well as the main living room. A torn up mattress with bed sheets and pillows scattered all over, and closet doors and wardrobes flung wide open. This was… so strange. There was also some black leather clothing poking out from underneath one of the white duvets, but his first port of call was the wardrobes.

But he was able to find exactly what he needed. Women’s clothing for Selan. In fact, there was a lot of women’s clothing in the bedroom… all of the clothing was for a woman, actually. Well, including the baby, at least. But no male clothes to mention at all. Hmm. Don’s snatched up a giant pile of clothes, and dashed back with them in arm to the living room – Selan could best decide what she might like to wear. He still had to search for something himself.

“Hey, Selan! I found some clothes for you! We should try and find some of the others too, maybe they know what happ- urk!” Almost as soon as he said it, he regretted it. He couldn’t really go outside and face everyone. They couldn’t see what Don looked like! So… so he needed to find something to help cover up his head. But what?

A quick search of the other hotel suite’s rooms yielded nothing either. He had to wear something… where was his clothes? His suit? (And his hair?)

Don scratched his chin, before dashing for the bedroom once more. The leather he saw underneath the bed duvet had to have been his jacket, surely!

He threw the duvet up to discover what was underneath, and his eyes widened in abject surprise. This… this… this felt familiar, and yet he couldn’t really remember why. He couldn’t remember anything that happened last night and yet… yet he knew he knew this somehow. But… how? Why?

At least it’d cover up his head…

Ten minutes later, after struggling to dress himself in such an assemblage, he dived out of the bedroom into the living room, rolling along a clean piece of glass free floor and, crouching on one knee, posed with his arms held diagonally. Selan was in the final moments of completing her had change as well, and once she saw Don, she recoiled in fright, thinking at first it was an attacker, at least until he spoke. Muffled as his voice was, there was no mistaking it was Don. It was simply too ludicrous to be anything else.

“CRIMSON JUSTICE, REPORTING FOR DUTY!!”



The small baby giggled.

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel - Moira and Syed's room

By now Amy's breaths had quieted significantly, though she still trembled. Syed too was as shaky as she'd ever seen him, possibly even more so than her as it was obvious in his voice, despite how hard he tried to play it off as the calmer one. He made some joke to try and lighten the situation, though with twenty times less the comfort Lucien always exuded with his own - then he went back to questioning himself.

Amy merely stared back at him with her wet emerald eyes as he spoke on and on. With her total lack of acknowledgement to anything he said, it might as well have looked like she wasn't even really listening.

The mage sparked here and there. He'd never be able to hide his anxiety well. "I'm sure Trixie's fine." Amy lowered her head slightly, still keeping silent. Syed spoke on. "The door's probably locked, Moira's really d-defensive about her stuff. She never leaves doors unlocked ever. If... if you want, I could look for the key while you use the bathroom. Save you going out there like that..."

Though Amy lowered herself to retrieve her dress, her eyes never left Syed. Had she not blurred her own vision with tears, she would have noticed and probably scoffed at how Syed seemed to be crying more than she was.

"Hah..." What a fucking mess this was. Barely managing to keep on her own feet, she straightened her posture, with her dress and other clothing articles clenched in hand. Then she staggered over to the open bathroom. She didn't even freeze upon hearing some ungodly roaring noises coming from the side of the bed nearest her, though she did catch stuff moving around in her peripherals.

Was that... Moira? Puking off the side of the bed? Normally Amy would have grossed out and ditched the room upon seeing and smelling that so up close, but her current tempo and the locked door prevented her from even reacting to it. Then again, she was in the Pride. Meaning she's seen much worse things. Like giantass spiders.

As Moira began screaming at whatever was underneath the bed, Amy slowly and shakily closed the bathroom door behind her.

---

???

Flussshhhhhhh shswhswhswhhs swirling toilet water noises

"Blech! Hack, cough, coughing noises! Hurk...!" A loud sigh. "Oh man. Never drinking that much apple juice again!"

The door to one of four stalls suddenly burst open, with Trixie flailing out of it. She managed to extend her arms before her as she tripped over her own shoelaces - and totally faceplanted the cold floor anyway. "Owwww..." After lying there for a few good seconds, she quickly scrambled to her feet, and was immediately met with a long horizontal mirror before her.

Mouth agape in near anguish, she charged right in front of it. "Noooo! My hair!"

Yes, one of her precious braids had become undone. Now she had to choose between unbraiding the other one, or having totally uncool asymmetrical hair. The decision was a tough one. And the poor, poor child would never be able to live with the agony. Oh well, at least she hadn't thrown up on it.

She bore her teeth next, taking an especially close look at the lovely gap between her two front teeth. But that didn't startle her. That had always been there. "Geeeez! I need a toothbrush." Trixie gave the mirror a final pout before waltzing over to the door, careful to avoid the puddles caused by what appeared to be a sink that had been completely broken off of its counter. Or something. Whatever that giant metal thingy was.

Rattle rattle. Shake shake shake. Rattle

"Locked!? Ah! Trying to play tricks with me, eh, door? Eh? Well too bad! You seem to forget that I'm...!" Her hands slapped her waist. There was no belt, no pouch, nothing there but her regular shirt and booty shorts. "......a lockpicker. Oh jabberwocky this is not good. Uhhh. Okay. Puzzle time. Think. Think. How would a Wondergirl get out of this one?" She drummed her fingers along her tiny chin as she scanned her surroundings.

There was a vent - two vents implanted within the ceiling, easily reachable by climbing atop one of the toilets. An open window was also perched alongside one of the walls; that one required a bit more of a climb, but it was nothing Trixie couldn't reach either.

Hmmm. So she did what felt most natural and began banging on the door.

"HALP! HALP! I'M TRAPPED IN HERE, HALP!"

Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

Selan felt at least a little bit better now that she was wearing soft, dry clothes. Her head still felt like nails scraping on chalkboard, and her hair was a limp, unruly mess, but getting rid of her clammy dress was definitely an improvement. All of the clothing options were actually rather nice, which she supposed was to be expected from the occupant of a once-lavish hotel room like this. She even found shoes that fit her next to the door, which made the glass on the floor much more managable. Even luckier, there was baby food in the kitchen area, as well as a bag full of supplies for the child, including diapers. It was unfortunate that on top of waking up in a trashed hotel room, they had to "borrow" as well, but... How could it possibly be helped? She imagined things could be cleared up by going straight to the lobby, having them contact the baby's parents, and promising to pay for damages (which would mean she would be in the same boat as Don, owing money to Marise for the rest of her natural life), but--

“CRIMSON JUSTICE, REPORTING FOR DUTY!!”

Startled, Selan whirled around, thinking that she and Don weren't alone in the apartment. But her eyes eventually narrowed at the man, realizing that even in a costume, the familiar posing and flourish was unmistakable.

"Oh, Don... You aren't really planning on going out like that, are you? You're going to scare the..."

Selan stepped closer to the baby basket, but was surprised to see the child giggling. "Aww, you like the silly man, don't you? Don't you..." she cooed, picking the baby up and grinning at Don. "I suppose we had better get our story straight before we tell the hotel staff anything, right...? Let's go look for the others." she said, just as much to the baby as it was to Don. "Here, carry this, will you?" She held the baby bag out to the "Crimson Justice".

---

Lisette was out of it, not even paying much attention to the goings-on above and around her. But she definitely thought she was going to faint once the sickening liquid splashed just mere inches away from her face. The weight literally atop Lisette's shoulders and back finally lifted, and she sucked in precious, stale, horrid air.

"What the hell are you doing under there?!" Moira shouted.

"I... don't feel so good..." Lisette whined, wriggling backwards and away. She finally emerged from beneath the other side of the bed, her pigtails sticking at odd ends and her skin a sickly yellow-grey.

The look of a teenager who was suffering from her first hangover.

She sat up on her knees, resting her forehead on the side of the mattress and just sitting there, looking miserable. "I don't feel so good..." she repeated, unable to make sense of how she could feel so awful.

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel - Hallway

"Do you remember anyone's room number?"

Dylan blinked. “Yes,” he said after a moments thought. Gods, did his head hurt. “If this was my room,” he ducked his head back in to study it, “which is was, then I know that Moira and Syed’s room wasn’t far from here. Just gimmie a moment. Did you pick up your cards by the way?”

He staggered back into the room, searching through the mess until he found his slate and case of chalk. “There you are!” he said as he placed a quick kiss to the slate. “I was worried I’d lost you.” He normally carried them in his jacket, but even drunk him didn’t loose this. Without his jacket he’d have to carry it in his hands, and he didn’t know how well he could draw in this condition, but he felt a lot better having it with him. “Alright, let’s go.”

He led Lucien down the hall, his glazed eyes scanning the room numbers until they arrived at the door. “This, this is it!” He pounded on the door, smashing his fist against him. The wiser part of his brain warned him that if he and Lucy were bad there was a good chance that the others were messed up as well, but he didn’t really care. He just hoped that one of them remembered seeing him and Lucy off.


“Guys are you in there? It’s Dylan and Lucy!”

Los Paraisos: Pellagio Hotel - Moira and Syed's room
Syed didn't say anything else as Amy left. Neither did Moira's throwing up and following exclamation really register for him. He was so overwhelmed by pretty much everything that he just felt numb.

Instead, he reached down and grabbed the nearest pair of trousers he could find (luckily, his build made it fairly evident which were his) and stumbled and fell into a wall as he tried to pull them on. As much as he felt he needed a shower, right now he just wanted to cover himself up a bit. Feel less exposed. Then, still without a word, he rubbed at his face again with a sniff and began rooting through the draws in the bedside cabinets and tables.

Meanwhile Moira groaned, pressing a hand against her forehead in an attempt to sooth her banging head.

"I don't feel so good..."

"You and me both, kid," Moira grumbled, "I feel like death.". After a couple of seconds however she seemed to suddenly have an ephiphany. "Eyyyyyy, you don't normally drink, right? Congrats!" She suddenly grinned and slapped the poor girl on the back. Probably not the best move. "Must have been a good night, I don't remember a thing!"

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!

Oh what the fuck?!


“Guys are you in there? It’s Dylan and Lucy!”

"UUUUUUUURGH!" Moira groaned. Every time they banged on the door, it felt like her brain was trying to excecute a backwards triple spin pike dive out of her skull.

"Don't answer it."

She turned to see her partner. Fucking hell he looked like an absolute state. Waking up not remembering the night before wasn't that bad. Nothing to start bawling your eyes out at, that was for sure. "Why not?"

He opened his mouth, his eyes darting from Moira to Lisette (with some alarm at the sight of the archer) then back again. Whatever he was going to say, he didn't seem able to vocalise it. Instead he seemed to get himself upset again, shrinking back a little before quickly turning back to the chest of drawers he was sifting through. His knuckles paled as he clenched at the handle.

Moira was just confused. She fished around in her bra, pulling out a key which was big enough that it must have been bloody uncomfortable sleeping with it. No wonder she instantly knew where it was. "It'll stop them trying to fuckin' break the door down."

She didn't even care that she was still only in her undies.

Los Paraisos: Streets

Aria muttered to herself angrily as she strode down the streets, hands wringing at her scarf twisted loosely around her arms. This had not been shaping up to be a good day, with her waking up on a random roof wearing Chirps’ clothing, finding Chirps in a pile of hay all but naked, and later being found by Xan who had somehow ended up as a clown last night. She wondered how the others were faring- had they ended up similar situations as well?

“Hotel… sleep… sounds good… but… Aria… give me my clothes. You… can have your dress back…”

Hadn’t he noticed that the dress was an illusion yet? She frowned and took a breath to reply, but ended up inhaling the scent of burnt wood and metal. Coughing, she looked up only to see a large crowd of onlookers blocking off their path as they surrounded the blackened husk of a building. A very familiar building.

“Wait… Isn’t that… the restaurant?”

And indeed it was. The Hell’s Kitchen restaurant where they had dined only the day before had been reduced to nothing more than charred remains. The three could only stare up at the blackened sign above the building in shock.

Had anyone been hurt? And wasn’t the head chef Moira’s brother? “Excuse me, but what happened here?” Aria approached the crowd and asked one of the men who was observing the building.

“Huh? Oh, the restaurant caught fire last night.” The man had eyed her baggy ensemble for a second but thankfully chose not to comment. “It was after it had closed so I don’t think anybody got hurt though.” He rubbed at his chin, then gestured to the police walking around the place. “They’re still trying to find the cause of the fire. I think they said it was a stove that got left on, but from what I’ve seen of him the head chef was always careful about things like safety despite the amount of plates he chucks around.”

With a quick thanks she returned to the other two, still refusing to look at Chirps and addressing Xan instead of what she had learned. Really, all of these things happening did nothing to soothe her throbbing head.

“We should go back and inform the others. Xan, do you know if there’s a shortcut back to the hotel?”

Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

Crimson Justice took the bag filled with supplies and essential for the baby from Selan as they slowly walked to leave the room and begin their search for the others. Selan mentioned getting their story straight, and indeed, Crimson Justice too wished to know what had happened last night. Where had this bold new, dashing and inspiring new superhero had come from? Who was the small baby left in their care, a child whom Crimson Justice had newly declared to himself to protect from harm and any injustice? And where the heck was his hair?!

The vibrant superhero slowly opened the door, poking his head out to search each side of the corridor to make sure the coast was clear. They couldn’t remember anything, but it didn’t rule out the possibility that they had committed a crime, even despite his heroic garb, and so it was it might be better if they weren’t witnessed leaving a crime scene that might lead to all sorts of embarrassing questions. Fortunately, the length of the hall was mostly empty, bar a maid doing her rounds of cleaning at the far end. She was folding towels and unlocking one of the doors at the far end, entering the room to begin cleaning.

“Er, there’s a maid down at the end, young miss!” Crimson Justice reported back to Selan. “Ah… I think she’s working her way down to here.”

“…we should probably leave a sign then…” Selan thought quickly, pointing to a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign for Crimson Justice to hang outside the door. Once the hallway was clear, the superhero, Selan and their young charge quickly exited and dashed in the opposite direction, rounding a corner safely.

“Hmm… doesn’t look like there’s anyone around here, either!” Crimson Justice reported with a sageful nod. “Do you remember where the others’ rooms were, Miss?”

The baby giggled again at the superhero’s antics.

And then, suddenly, there was a piercing scream from the floor above. A scream that sounded familiar.

“COME!” Crimson Justice turned on the spot, making his way to dash towards the stairs. “SOMEONE IS IN DANGER!!”

Dylan knew where Syed and Moira were. That was just grand, but hopefully the pair were in better shape than he and Dylan were in. His head throbbed and he wanted to sleep, but he also wanted to shed light on the awkward awakening. The best way to do that, would be to find the others and get some answers.

"Just gimmie a moment. Did you pick up your cards by the way?”

His cards! What the hell was wrong with him? Lucien blamed his forgetfulness on how crappy he was feeling. "Oh yeah, thanks." He gave Dylan a weary thumbs up before he rushed back into the hotel room. He picked up his cards then counted them before he placed them back into their card holder. He stuffed it into one of his pockets then followed his friend out the room. Eventually Dylan found Syed's and Moira's room and began pounding on it. The loud noise made him want to crawl away, but Lucien stood his ground, stiff grin and all ready to give his friends a chirpy good morning, followed by questions on what the heck happened last night.

The morning had been painfully awkward, and he found it hard to be his cheery self, so if Moira and Syed could give them some confirmation he'd be happy and they could all laugh and joke about what happened in the morning.

Lucien could imagine Moira smirking. "Oh," she'd narrow her eyes at them, looking all smug. "You got wasted, so we put you to bed." Then Syed would confirm it and everything would go back to normal. Well, that was how he imagined it to go, but then no one came to the door and Dylan continued to pound on it. Where were they?

"Guys, are you in there?" Lucien stepped in front of Dylan and reached for the doorknob, but before he could twist it, he heard the jingling of keys. "Oh, what do you know, they're here after--" The door was pulled open, revealing a grumpy looking Moira in nothing but her underwear. "I-I...good morning." Lucien turned a shade of red, averted his eyes, and quickly ran behind Dylan. The matter artist would be his human shield if the boss decided to give them a butt kicking for being so loud. "Oh, hey, boss!" He swallowed his fear and gave her a nervous smile as he stood behind Dylan, ready to tuck tail and run if the circumstances called for it.



“Hotel… sleep… sounds good… but… Aria… give me my clothes…”

Xandra didn't even bother to look at him, instead she trailed after Aria sluggishly and stared at her shoes. The moment they reached a hotel room, she was going to curl up in a corner and wait for her headache to go away. She'd apologize for the rudeness later on, but at the moment she was beyond politeness. So, this was what a hangover felt like? Why did people keep drinking if they would be in for a morning of pain and grumpiness? She didn't know that answer, and didn't try to find out.

She trailed quietly after the duo before a charred and ashy smell made her snap her head up.

"Wait...Isn't that... the restaurant?"

Restaurant? Xan's eyes widened at the scene. It was The Hell's Kitchen, and now, it was nothing but charred wood and broken remains. What happened last night? Why couldn't they remember? Why couldn't she remember? Did she really have more than a glass?...She couldn't have. Xan wasn't the sort of person who gave in to parties or letting loose, so why couldn't she remember? The blankness of the previous night made her feel sick to her stomach and for a moment the world tipped. She couldn't have shirked off her duties, right? The thought of messing up horribly made her angry with herself. Perhaps if they had been in their right minds, they could have prevented this catastrophe.

Aria did the questioning, and Xan stood there with Thunderhawk, just staring at the wreck, her mind miles away. She heard a few words and phrases here and there but they floated inside her head, incomplete and almost incoherent.

Fire. Nobody was hurt. No one knew what caused the fire.

No one knew! What if they had played a part in it? Thunderhawk was in a dress, Aria was in his clothes, the others were missing, and she was in a clown outfit for crying out loud! Aside from that, nobody could remember what they had been up to, so what if they had done something stupid? What if they had accidentally started the fire? Her thoughts got worse and worse. If it had been them...she wouldn't know what to do.

“We should go back and inform the others. Xan, do you know if there’s a shortcut back to the hotel?”

"...I think I'm going to be sick." Xan closed her eyes, and It took her all her willpower not to double over and vomit on Thunderhawk's feet.

Los Paraisos: Streets: Hell's Kitchen Remains

"Get... get out of the way..." Thunderhawk grunted with frustration, shoving Xandra slightly to the side and pushing past, struggling to walk down the alleyway nearest to them. "Down here... this way leads to the hotel too..."

Aria and Xandra looked to each other with begrudging, disgruntled looks, before they gave the restaurant one final look and turned to follow after their 'esteemed' leader. Niether of them enjoyed Thunderhawk's nonreaction to the restaurant, given the probability that it being a burnt wreckage and how none of them could remember the events of last night... well the result was frightening to consider. What if they had caused it?

But that concern didn't even seem to register with him, and the way he pushed Xan out of the way was unfriendly too. The jerk...

"Wait..." Thunderhawk silently mused to himself as the trio pushed on. ...how did he know this led to the hotel? He didn't remember walking down this alley before. The details surrounding them didn't look familiar at all, and yet he recognised this place... from a different angle, at least. The roofs?

The roofs... roofs... Aria...

Thunderhawk's cheeks bulged and he threatened to vomit, before holding it down and swallowing. No, no, that could happen later.

And then there it was, the Pellagio Hotel! It's extravagant fountain's water bursting forth up and down in a shower of beautiful patterns and formations. What a truly beautiful, mesmerising site.

And so it was Thunderhawk vomitted all in it.

"Ugh... this... this... sucks......."

"Wait... what's going on?" Xandra asked, after pinching her nose to waft away the smell. The Pellagio Hotel entrance was absolutely swamped with people, a thick, bustling crowd that made entering the building almost impossible. The crowd filled out the outer grounds and the lobby both. Bustling murmurs and frenetic excited screams came from the crowds, alongside the flashing of cameras. What was going on?

---

*rattle rattle BAM BAM rattle rattle BAM*

"HALP! HALP! I'M TRAPPED IN HERE, HALP!"

*rattle rattle BAM BAM rattle rattle BAM*

“What… what was that?”

A figure suddenly stopped, dropping the mop in the bucket and looking curiously towards the shaking door as if it was alive and talking. The figure’s body slouched to one side, and a slight sigh could be heard escaping from the man’s lips, before he started walking towards the bouncing door. Had one of the patrons gotten stuck inside last night? Perhaps passing out in one of the toilet cubicles? That wasn’t good… if the boss found out about it, she’d have his head. Nobody other then employees were allowed to be on the premises after closing hours. He should have checked it all more thoroughly.

“Hold on, hold on,” The man spoke, digging into his backpocket and fishing out a key. Several keys, flicking through each one of them to look for the right one. But the banging and rattling of the doorknob continued, as if whoever it was on the other side didn’t hear them. Which was less then surprising, considering all of their screaming.

Finally, the right key was found, inserted into the keyhole, and the door unlocked. And then, as the man began to twisted the handle…

BAM

The door went flying outwards, smacking the man in the face and causing him to collapse on the floor as Trixie burst out into freedom.

“YUS! FREEDOM AT LAST! TEACH YOU TO MESS WITH ME, DOOR!” Trixie stuck her tongue out at the door and blew a raspberry, before then noticing the strange new room she found herself in.

Bathed in low lighting, the room was quite large, and fancily adorned. There were lots and lots of plush, leather sofas, arranged in circles with a table in between them, several of the tables having a pole extend up from the table to the ceiling. A bar to one side held many glasses and exotic coloured bottles behind the counter (Amy would sure love this place!) and finally, there was a long, long catwalk behind a barrier with a set of curtains at the far end and, at the catwalk’s most outjutting peak into the center of the room, another metal pole reaching the ceiling.

Where was she?

“Ugh… are you alright, little miss?” A voice groaned from beneath her. Trixie gasped, hopping off of the man’s face and landing next to him. Who… who was he? And why was this big muscular hairy man, in leather pants and red shoulder braces, totally topless?!

“My name’s Freddie, little miss… are you okay? Where are your parents?”

Los Pasaisos: Pellagio Hotel - Moira and Syed's room
She missed the keyhole a couple of times in her fuzzy-minded state, but Moira managed it in the end. Thankfully once she turned the key that awful banging against the door stopped. She gave herself a second to rest her poor, hurting forehead against the door. Okay? Okay.

With that, she wrenched the door open that fast that it sent air buffetting back into the room.

Yep, it was Lucien and Dylan, although the former went beetroot and quickly hid behind the latter.

She put her hands on her hips, staring coldly at the two men stood before her in all her bare, hungover glory. Her pale, somewhat sunburnt skin was covered in scars both old and new, a very visible reminder of her many years working for the Guild. She had one hell of a bed-head, although that was most likely due to sleeping in the same bed as Mr Static over there. Damn, she needed to put her heels on. She felt tiny here.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS IT?!" she roared, fixing the both of them with her piercing gaze. There had better be a fucking fire else she'd be pissed! Her shouting made her own head feel like someone was constantly doing drumming practice with a sledgehammer on her skull, but she was never the sort to take that into account. "Argh, fuck! Shouldn't have done that... aaaaaand you two look like shit. Ha! 'Bout time!"

Welp, anger forgotten.

Syed meanwhile positioned himself just behind the door so he was out of sight. He was in no real state to be seeing anyone right now, although he knew he didn't really have much choice in the matter here. The least he could do was at least give the appearance of not being an absolute wreck, for the others' sakes. Especially for Lisette, who looked such a mess that he could only guess they must have roped her along at some point. Hooo boy, that mustn't have been pleasant for her. Especially if she was there... He rubbed his face one more time, partly to make sure and partly to try and clear his head. Damnit. He needed a shave.

"You ok?" he whispered to the archer, still not all that willing to bring attention to himself. He glanced over to the bathroom once more, hugging himself again without realising what he was doing.

"Actually..." Moira thought aloud, frowning a little. She readjusted her bra in the process, without a care in the world. "Either of you know what the time is?"

Los Paraisos: Pellagio: Room ???

Like letting a child play pretend, Selan humored Don's new persona for as long as he continued to focus on their tasks at hand. Even though it would have been much easier to slink around the corridors without one of them being in a ridiculous costume, but it wasn't worth addressing. Without the helmet, Don would likely be lamenting over his lost hair.

"Do you remember where the others' rooms were, Miss?"

Selan was about to tell him that she actually had no clue where any of their friends' rooms were, but a piercing scream interrupted them.

"COME!" Don whirled around and dashed up the staircase, leaving Selan and the baby staring after him. It was almost impressive.

"Well, that's not going to happen," Selan remarked to the baby, who blew a spit bubble in response. Heels plus a hangover plus an infant? She wasn't going to be running anywhere. But she hurried after Crimson Justice as quickly as she could.

---

"You ok?" Syed whispered to Lisette, looking off at the bathroom for some reason. She vaguely remembered hearing Miss Amy's voice earlier, with a lot of commotion, but... She couldn't see a thing when she was trapped under the bed, facing the wall. She might have even dreamed it. Or something.

"I... don't know?" Lisette asked herself, looking up dazedly. "I think I feel really sick, but..."

She tried to take a deep breath, and the thought occurred to her that she was inhaling more vomit-smell, which caused her to suddenly scramble up to her feet. She rushed toward the door, limping on cramped legs like a wounded gazelle and pushing past Dylan and Lucien.

Standing in the hallway, Lisette placed her hands on her knees and sucked in the cool, fresh air in big gulps. Much better.

"Why don't I remember anything about last night!?" Lisette blurted out to her friends, looking slightly crazed now.

She wasn't so stupid that she could lose track of entire hours, she knew that, but there was no explanation for any of this! And to poor, frazzled Lisette who had never drunk more than a tiny sip of alcohol from her father's glass, she didn't understand why her head hurt so darn much or why her stomach gurgled dangerously with nausea. It hadn't even occurred to her that Kapi was nowhere in sight.