This is the worst hangover Gargan has ever gotten. The world seems to be spinning, his head felt like it has been bashed open by a troll, and his guts’ socked by an orge. Waking up in an old alleyway, obstructed from view, and hidden from the elements.

 

“Arg….Damn it….Did I over do it again?” He groaned, as he stood up, using the wall as a support. “Did I hurted anyone last….night?” He asked, to no one in particular, as he slowly recalled last night. But there was very little that he could remember, besides a snippet of the tavern, his meeting with ‘Lady Luna’, Sir Gawrgaru. Those, he could recall somewhat clearly.

 

Besides that, he couldn’t really recall much, except for the tantrum he threw in the largest, most lavish nighthouse this city has. “AHHHHHH!!! I DID NOT DO THAT!” He denied, but there was no one else to hear his self-denial. “NO! WHY DID I !?!? AGH!” He curled into a feathery ball, and cringed himself into suffocation, his cawing echoed through the narrow alley.

 

Not only that, he visited a brothel, one of the places that he avoids at all cost. It was in his culture and tradition to pay for a night with someone. It was frowned upon. Honorless, coward, weaks….If an aarakocra can’t get himself a mate with his own effort, his power, then what does that mean? He isn’t fit enough to have offspring, simple as that. And, aarakocras are not fond of carnal pleasure, and especially after lust. They simply don’t have that mammalian greed.

 

“Good thing is, there isn’t anyone here from the tribe, so this might be safe….” He consulted himself, as he recovered his pride, and cried a little. It still hurts, however, and he best should leave the city for the time being ....”I imagine that I’ll be the talk of the town now…..”

 

After dwelling on the subject matter for way too long, Gargan decided to just head back to the inn and rest until his hangover subsided. “Urg….I really underestimated the pendant’s protection, didn’t I? When was the last time I even got a hangover?” He lamented, as he thought back about his lost pendants.

 

It was not anything special. Rare it may be, but certainly not very sought after among the rich. It was crafted by his sister, as a farewell gift weeks before his departure from his clan’s complex, made up of a piece of amethyst mined from the nearby mountain’s range by his uncle, wrapped in a silvery wire and decorated with two dozens feathers from his family membered and closest friends. This pendant, in all aspects, is just another tribal charm that explorers tend to keep on themselves as a reminder of homes and families, of a place to return, and of a place where they will be missed.

 

His was a little special, as the piece of amethyst used in its creation was blessed by ether, or mana, however one likes to call it that, and awakened its attributes. Amethyst are blessed by nature to have the ability to increase one's immunity and recovery from toxic, poison and venom of most kinds, as well as help in relaxation too.

 

Back in his world, most minerals, gemstones, or woods also have this kind of attribute, but not all are the same. There are no two pieces of identical rubies, or oaks, as each piece can awaken different variations and potency of its special attributes. His pendant was blessed to have the ability to increase his recovery and immunity against most non lethal toxins, and there is no telling what the awaken attribute is before they are actually awakened.

 

In his world, everything can breath and absorbed mana, and if it is awakened, will imbued the mana it absorbed with it attribute, and breathe it out again, and when an organic being breath in mana, the imbued mana will work it magic and enhanced them with the attributed mana.

 

In his master words, the circle of mana (or path of ether) is complex, yet straightforward. It is a take and give relationship. You take in the power of the world around you, and you give the world around you your power.

 

Gargan still hasn't confirmed if the theory of mana’s path state valid in this new realm yet, as he isn’t much of a researcher, or as perceptive as his master to note the small, almost minucial change in the mana’s nature and attribute.

 

“Urg….I better find it soon, too, if I want to drink again….” He speaks to the little guy next to him, who just flapped its wings and dances around Gargan not understanding the avian's struggle, and slowly makes his way back to Firestone. It took him longer than it should have, given his terrible state, but Igor waved him a cheeky hello from behind the kitchen, as Gargan made his way up the stairs.

 

“I heard you had some fun last night, eh?” Igor inquired, and followed by a roaring, belly rumbling laugh. “Want something to fill your stomach?”

 

“Shut up….” Gargan said from the top of the stair, his ear ringing from the greeting. “Just….just some hot soup, please….I’ll be down in half an hour….”

 

As soon as he entered his room, Gargan ripped off his cloth, everything, and used his hydromancy to clean himself up, as well as his clothes, and changed into something fresh. One of the best things he learned from his travels, Gargan was so glad that he decided to learn a more ‘boring and useless’ way of magic. He also conjured a fresh, cool ball of water to freshen himself up, too, and hydrated himself.

 

“So, how was last night?” Igor asked, as he settled down a bowl of piping hot soup and a piece of slightly cold bread. The chef, realizing Gargan is the only few guests at the moment, decided to take a seat beside the birdman and tease him about this adventure last night. “I heard from Lark about your encounter with the Duke’s son.”

 

“Lark? Who is he?” Gargan asked, arching his brown as he tore off a piece of bread and dipped it into the vegetable soup infront of him.

 

“That's him right there.” Igor pointed with his eye toward the drunk dwarf in the corner of the dining area.

Gargan turned his head over, and saw the familiar dwarf, who was seated next to him last night at Golden Wings….Just smashing as he was, hugging an empty glass of ale. “Is he alway like that?”

 

“Not really, no. He does love drinking, however.” Igor shrugged.  “He worked for a transport company. Just got off his ship last night. I heard that his company lost quite a lot of ships and crews during the Worldshift, so they have been stretching quite thin now. Anyway, how was he?”

 

“He?” Gargan thought for a minute, as he recalled the encounter with the young and dashing noble. “Hm….Quite not what I was expecting, to be fair. He had very mild manners, well educated, and a surprisingly calm temper. He is strong, however. I don’t know how this realm is, but I reckon he is one of the strongest men I came across since I landed here.” Gargan gave Igor his honest opinion.

 

“Humu….” Igor nodded, as he listened to the aarakocra’s evaluation. “That is one favorable view you got, then. I can’t disagree on that. His house is somewhat controversial, but there is no denying that he is one fine young man. How about his wife-to-be? Was she as pretty as they said?”

 

“H-Huh? What?” Gargan choked on his bread, and let out a strange qwack. “His wife-to-be? What are you talking about?” He reacted rather suspiciously, as he tried to erase the memory of that from his mind. There is no possible way that he courted a spoken-for lady.

 

“Didn’t you steal her away from him? Right there in the tavern?” Igor smirked, as his eyes twinkled. “Lark said he saw how she clinged on you really tightly” He winked.

 

“Nope! That did not happen!” Gargan flailed his arms wildly. “Are you really going to believe a drunk man's words? She did not cling to me at all!”

 

“You got a point….” Igor put his hand on his chin, thinking for a moment, before continuing. “But, you didn’t didn’t deny that she was with you, eh?” His goddamn awful smirk returned, plastered widely on his weathered face. “How was she?”

 

“Shut up!” Gargan blew up, not in any mood to continue this conversation any longer. “Can you not, Igor?” His plums standed up, his wings spreaded wide, and his pupils contracted into tiny little dots.

 

“!!!” Igor let out a wordless scream, and stumbled backward, knocking over a chair, and falled to the ground. His collapsed legs shaking, his teeth clattering. The mild birdman before him has transformed into a monster, his eyes filled with wrath.

 

The figure standing in front of him looked no different than a dozen sky-borned monsters and beasts that preyed upon any unsuspecting sailors. His folded wings now covered everything around Igor, his bright and brilliant eyes shone more in the shadow of a dangerous glint, and his beak now looked sharper and wicked, ready to tear into his flesh.

 

Looking at the fearful and shaking Igor, Gargan snapped out of his angered state, and slowly sat back down….This is why he refrained from drink….at least without his pendants, as he was prone to violence when intoxicated and having a hangover.

 

“Please….I’m sorry for my outburst, but can we not speak of this matter?” He was incredibly ashamed of himself, both for losing his manners, as well as the matter of last night, as converting a loved one is the most shameful thing on his list, and he has gone and done it.

 

It was an awkward silence, as the only noise hung in the air were the dwarf’s loud snoring, and his spoon scraping away the ceramic bowl. After a quiet minute, Igor recompose himself, and returned to his seat, much to Gargan’s surprise. He expected the chef to turn tail and run away, and he had to look for another accommodation.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to push that hard….” He sheepishly said, and continued. “I thought you know about last night already….”

“Huh?” That caught Gargan's attention. “What happened last night? Is this something I should have known?”

 

“Um….Gawrgaru caught a giant serpentine monster last night. I heard it was some kind of shapeshifting monster, who took the shape of his wife-to-be. There was a battle, or something equally destructive, last night as he captured the monster, and did quite a collateral damage on the surrounding area.” Igor patiently explained. “From what I heard, his wife-to-be is still stuck somewhere….so whoever you met last night was probably the monster.”

 

“I….What?” There were half a dozen invisible question marks floating around him, as Gargan tried to make sense out of that barrage of information. ‘Did….Did my stupid theory hit it mark? What’s in the Zephyr’s left pinky is that? How did I land that? Whatever theory he came up with last night, it was pure bullshit, as he was just trying to find an excuse to make Sir Gawrgaru leave the lady alone. Or did he genuinely believe that theory….? He didn’t really know it himself either.

 

“I don’t know how true that story is,” Igor admitted, as he headed back to the kitchen. “However, there was a large column of fire that engulfed part of the red light district last night, and almost everyone in this size of the city saw it, so I am inclined to believe that the story is true. How true, however, I can’t really say.”

 

Left by himself, Gargan began to think about the whole encounter with the young heir again, as he tried to recall his interaction with the shapeshifter. ‘So….that explains her strange dialogue….she seems to be another Otherworlder, it seems….Why did she take Gawrgaru’s fiance's appearance, tho?’

 

“Wait!” He exclaimed, and realized that he may have played a role in her capture. ‘My note! Did it cause Sirs Gawrgaru to attack the imposter? He seems to be distressed enough, and I assume seeing someone that took his fiance’s look would do that, huh.’ Gargan began to regret his decision, as he believed that the shapeshifter was just a lost one, so there may be something else….

 

“Here, my apology.” Igor set down a glass of a honey-sweet drink with a couple of ice cubes. “Morning Dew, it is a wonderful drink that aids in curing headaches and speeds up the recovery from a hangover. They are quite sweet, so I advise you to take it slow.”

 

“Thank….I’m sorry too.” Gargan accepts the drink with a hint of shame. Looking into Igor's eyes, the avian couldn’t see any sign of fear anymore. He recovered rather quickly. “I….I don’t tend to be that violent….But, um….your accusation, which was entirely justifiable, pushed me over the edge a bit. Especially with this ground splitting of a headache.”

 

“....” Igor didn’t say anything, but just took a seat, again, waiting for Gargan to continue.

 

“It….It just that….I’m a little lost.” Gargan gave Igor an appreciative smile, as he took a sip of the drink, finding that it was too sweet for his liking. It was good, but just not his cup of tea. “Funny, right? I’m an explorer. The one to venture into the unknown, and to discover the never seen before. Be away from home, right? Being alone in a godforsaken forest, camping in a ruined city, running aways from undocumented monster….Yet, I can’t help but feel….feel….so lost here.”

 

“You would think that being here, in this wonderful and mysterious land, would make me over the moon. It is, after all, the ultimate dream of an explorer, isn’t it? Meeting new people, finding new and undiscovered phenomena, experiencing a new culture….Yet, I can’t help but feel so lost.” His grip on the cup tightened. “Funny….As if being an explorer didn’t entail being lost 9 out of 10 days.”

 

“But….But I can’t help but keep remembering my family. How is father fair now? Did my brother finally propose? How about my sisters?” Gargan looked up at Igor, and flashed him a sad smile. “Is there a way for me to get back? Is this ‘Worldshift’ thing permanent? Is there a chance that I could stumble through another Dimensional Rift? Will it be the right one?”

 

“How should I live from now….” The birdman looks out the window, and out into the bustling street of Aerelieth. “I am very sorry for the earlier outburst of mine, Igor. With a promise to Zephyr, I shall repay you for what I did….”

 

“You know,” Igor interrupted him, after patiently listening to Gargan’s rants and story. “You are not the first Outlanders I housed the last couple of weeks. But one thing I can said….you really got a head on your shoulders. Most didn’t even think much about it. Or, they just tried to suppress their emotion. The sooner you come to term with it, the sooner you shall be free from it. I have nothing to tell you, nor do I have the authority to do so, but I believe you already have an answer for yourself, don't you?”

 

“....” It was a surprising response, as Igor's face softened, and his eyes slowly turned to the ceiling. “Thank you for….listening to this one rambles.” He didn’t know what else to say, and sat there in silence for a moment before leaving for his room, the cup of Morning Dews in one hand, and his head in the other.

 

“One more thing,” Igor called him from behind, “You are very scary, Gargan….I almost have to mop the floor again.” He laughed, and Gargan cracked a smile. “But, I think that you are a nice chicken.”

 

“I AM NOT A CHICKEN!” He yelled from the top of the stair, and slammed the door shut, his smile widening. From behind the door, he could hear the crackling laugh of the chef down stairs. Maybe staying in this world for a little longer wouldn’t be that bad.