The next morning I awoke in my bed with the worst hangover I’ve ever experienced. Half of my body was over the side of my bed, fully clothed, and the only thing keeping me from falling off the bed was my somewhat balanced position. Rolling off the bed, I caught myself slumping to the floor lazily. My hand instantaneously moved to comfort my aching head as I tried standing up. 

“What happened?” I asked myself while I meandered my way to the door.

Once I was able to open the door I looked back at my bed only to be shocked at the sight of Elysif asleep on the side opposite where I had woken up and in a position that was less than gracious. I had a slight moment of shock but knew that freaking out would wake her and I was not poking that hornet's nest. Of course, we were both clothed so we couldn’t have done anything that might get us in trouble. Stepping out the door I saw Scott sitting on the couch with his legs propped up on an end table that he had moved in front of him. In his hands was yesterday's paper which I assumed he finally got around to reading.

“Good morning.” Scott said with a shit-eating grin.

“Uh… what happened last night?” I asked with an appropriately worried look.

“If you’re wondering why Elysif is in your bed? No, you two didn’t do anything but I did place her in your bed.” Scott replied as if proud of himself.

“What? Why?” I asked with a bewildered tone but kept my voice hushed to keep from waking Elysif.

“Consider it training. When she wakes up, she will probably attack you and ask questions later. I know from experience. If you can escape her, you win.” Scott said before returning to reading yesterday's paper.

“What do you mean by experience, and are you trying to get me killed?” I asked with an incredibly confused look.

“My wife pulled the same stunt on me and Elysif years ago so I thought I would give it a try and no I am trying to keep you from getting killed in the future.” Scott said as if this was a big teaching moment that I was supposed to accept as gospel.

“Your wife sounds like a dangerous person.” I said in an attempt to explain in a roundabout way that he was crazy. However, I failed to account for how dense he was.

“She was considered the most lethal member of the Table for a while so yes she was very dangerous.” He said in a matter-of-fact way. 

Hearing a board creek behind me Scott and I looked behind me to see that Elysif was standing right there. I jumped in surprise and quickly ran to the other side of Scott but when I looked at her she was rubbing her head in the same way I was. Hungover, confused, and a little pissed. With a dizzy meander, she made her way in front of Scott and while loudly yawning kicked him in the chest. Not expecting a kick out of the blue Scott took the full force of her kick and fell back on the couch against the floor with a boom.

“You can’t pull off the same stunts your wife did. I can forgive her but you’re an ass.” Elysif said before she slunk down and sat against the wall. She looked like she wanted to go back to sleep. Elysif was definitely not a morning person. 

“So what actually happened last night? My memory is very hazy.” Elysif asked with a tired expression.

Scott laid on the ground rubbing his head from where he hit it on the floor. Then got up and put the couch back how it should be. “You all got hammered despite me warning Lou to keep an eye on you and Iscariot. Because of that I ended up carrying and guiding both of you back here. I didn’t have your key Elysif and I wasn’t going to search you so I put you with Lou as a courtesy and also as a joke.” Scott explained with a bit of annoyance. It kind of sounded like he wanted some gratitude for not leaving us on the street or worse, at Mama Louise’s.

“Okay, what about Iscariot?” I asked.

“He seduced Mama Louise and spent the night with her.” Elysif and I shuddered at the thought of that. “Oh, and we have a mission.” Scott said.

“What kind of mission? The Table doesn't usually ask you to go on missions.” Elysif said as neither she nor I heard him and Mama Louise talking about this. Maybe it was the alcohol or maybe we just weren’t paying attention? I don’t know.

“This wasn’t from the Table but from Mama Louise herself. She wants us to destroy some Willowisps and has offered her services to watch the city while we’re gone.” Scott explained.

“Well, I guess I’m going with you two.” Elysif said adamantly. 

“Huh?” Scott and I said with a stupified look.

“Willowisps are rare and possibly very dangerous, so I’m coming along. You’ll need someone to make sure you don’t die and I also want to see if there are any special ingredients that I can get off them.” Elysif stated.

“Okay, fair enough.” Scott replied as he couldn’t think of a reason not to.

“What is a Willowisp exactly?” I asked as I had no idea what that was.

“A creature of great power that few have records of due to their rarity and their ability to kill. They are extremely hard to kill and I can count on one hand how many have seen them and lived.” Scott said, showing a few fingers for emphasis.

“And we’re going to kill one?” I asked as the more he described this, the more it sounded like a suicide mission.

“No, we’re gonna kill several of them. Now pack your bags.” He said, getting up and going to his room. Elysif and I both sat there in shock at his last sentence before Elysif sighed and drowsily slumped to the floor. 

“Okay Lou, you slept in the same bed as me which makes you my lover so as my lover you need to carry me downstairs to my flat.” Elysif said as if that made any sense. If she was going to guilt me into carrying her down to her place then she need a better excuse.

“No, it doesn’t.” I replied, going to my own room. As I started packing I didn’t hear the door to the apartment open so I assumed Elysif was still lying there. The longer the silence went on the more guilty I felt and I really didn't want to look back at her.  I regretted assuming this and feeling guilty because she chucked one of Scott’s empty bottles at me. The bottom of the bottle struck the back of my head with just enough force that I passed out on the floor with a loud thump. I guess I lost Scott’s “training” in the end.