Chapter 220: Hangover

Author’s note: Hey guys.

I don't have much to say this time. 😅

Enjoy!

Chapter 220: Hangover - link: https://www.patreon.com/posts/123766898

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Chapter 220: Hangover

Morning sunlight clawed through the window, bright and merciless, and in response a low, guttural growl filled the room - just me, snarling at the day. Even with my eyes shut, the light stabbed through, sharp as any blade. Worse, it made my head hurt more. Even when I threw myself onto my belly, face buried deep in the pillow, the pounding stayed.

The sun might’ve been blocked, but no pillow could silence the noise clawing its way to my ears.

Something skittered across the roof, claws scraping the window every so often. Below, someone worked, the clatter of tools rising up to meet the noise from the street, all of it seeping into the room, into my ears, into my skull. Hands clamped over my ears made no difference. I could still hear it all.

Sure, shoving it all aside wasn’t impossible - I had learned to drown out noise when needed - but that took focus. And focus meant being awake, the very thing I wished to avoid.

A muffled scream into my pillow bled off some of the frustration knotting my chest, but sleep stayed well out of reach.

Instead, it only turned my mind to something just as unpleasant - my mouth. Dry as sand, my throat no better, and a bitter rot clung to my tongue like I had chewed on spoiled meat. Took more courage than I liked to sniff my own breath. Courage - and a strong stomach. Nearly lost my guts right there.

Came so close, I could already taste the bile creeping up.

Annoyingly, not making a mess in my room wasn't my only problem. There was my bladder. So far, it's been a matter I had managed to keep at the edge of my mind, but with every passing moment, it demanded more and more of my attention.

Still, not enough to drag me from the warmth of that bed. Comfortable, strangely so - more than I remembered the barracks bed to be. Yet, the blissful sleep eluded me.

"Would you shut up!" The words came muffled into the pillow, aimed at the Lattice, knowing damn well it wouldn’t do a thing.

And, of course, it didn’t.

Although no new notifications were buzzing in my skull, the unread ones nagged at my mind. It was a hard-to-describe feeling. Like the feeling that you were supposed to do something, something important that you couldn’t for the life of you remember, that nagging feeling at the corner of your mind.

Eventually, I gave up the effort to sleep, and after another grunt into the pillow, I rolled back onto my back. Head pounding, temper frayed, I finally gave in and checked the damned notifications.

• You were poisoned

• You were poisoned

• You were poisoned

'What the actual fuck?!'

The list of notifications just kept going.

I knew that too much alcohol wasn’t good for one’s health, but this was a bit too extreme. Or was it? Could what I was drinking last night still be considered booze for a normal human? Absolutely not!

‘Well, what else do we have here? Let’s see....’

• 14th glyph engraved on [Equilibrium] (⦿⦿)

"Tits, how?" Half shocked at what had so naturally escaped my lips and half in awe of what I had managed to do without having to fight a beast of twice the number of sigils, I strained to pull any sense from the mess in my head. 

Deckard. The dance. And damn, the man could move, spinning me and the whole world with a single step. We crossed the floor in a heartbeat, only for him to throw me up in the air like I weighed nothing at all.

After that? Nothing but fog.

Did I even finish the dance?

The notifications claimed I had.

The notifications stood there, clear proof I had somehow seen it through.

• You were poisoned

• You were poisoned

• You were poisoned

More of the poisoning - meaning more drinks, explaining my worsening headache. Yada, Yada...

• You were poisoned

• 14th glyph carved on [Equilibrium] (⦿⦿)

• 2nd glyph etched on [Dancing] (⦿)

• You were poisoned

"Hold on! Dancing?" Looking again to make sure I really didn't seem to see wrong. The mention of the [Dancing] weave sat right there, tucked among the sea of buzzing notifications crawling through my mind.

'Did I...?' Unable to finish the thought, I broke out in a cold sweat. After all, that could only mean one thing. I had swapped one of my weaves. 

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 Name: Korra Grey

Race: Human
 Gender: Female
 Age: 27

1st Array: Slave
 Master: Esu
 Sigils: 101 - ○○○○○○

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Weaves: 1st Array (6/6)

Eleaden Standard Language (General):.....23 glyphs - ⦿⦿
Indomitable Will (Slave):................................115 glyphs - ⦿⦿⦿⦿⦿
Spatial Domain (General):............................. 23 glyphs - ⦿⦿
Equilibrium (General):.............................13 → 15 glyphs - ⦿⦿
[NEW] Dance (General):............................ 1 → 6 glyphs - ⦿
Tail of Poison Empress (General):............... 15 glyphs - ⦿⦿

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‘Thank the… tits. It's just the Pounce.’ 

All the other weaves were still where they should be. Losing my array wouldn’t have stung too much, but if I had drunk away weaves like Indomitable Will or Spatial Domain, I would really have to kick myself for it. The Pounce, on the other hand, was a weave I didn't find that useful.

‘Stupid to use properly.’ The voice of my beast-self rumbled through my thoughts, more growl than word, clearly unimpressed. The dance meant nothing to the beasts - at least to those I was made of.

‘Speaking of dance…’

However, before I could get a look at my new weave, my ears perked up. Someone was rushing up the stairs, stairs I didn't remember treading to my room in the barracks. 

'Where the fuck am I? Tits, don’t tell me…!'

My hands shot to my chest and crotch as my eyes, stinging from the daylight, swept the bed. Relief flooded in - alone, fully dressed. Moreover, the familiar sight of the room seeped through the fog in my mind. Not the barracks, no - this was Scoresby’s Goods & Wares. My room.

Just as the realization hit me, the door to the room flew open.

"KORRA!" A small, panting Kitare stood there, her shriek bright with joy — too bright for my pounding head.

Then she pounced, landing hard enough to knock the breath from me.

"You're all right," the little Kitare mumbled into my chest, her small arms squeezing tight. "When you didn't show up yesterday... I thought - even Mrs. Scoresby didn’t know where you’d gone."

Guilt gnawed hard and deep. "I'm so sorry about that, Ria," I said, ruffling her hair. "Didn’t mean to worry you, but..." My cursed tongue stumbled for something better to say. "Some fools tried to rob me again... but it’s all right, the city guards helped."

"Really?"

"Really." Not the full truth, but close enough. Ruttledge, Ward, and that bitch were trying to rob me of my freedom.

"That's some rough luck," Mrs. Scoresby said from the doorway, leaning against the frame, her tone making it plain she didn’t believe a word. "Didn’t look that way when you turned up on my doorstep."

Instinctively, I sat on the bed, fingers curling into Ria’s fur. "I'm terribly sorry, Mrs. Scoresby. Truly. Whatever I did... whatever happened last night, I apologize."

"Last night?" She chuckled low, the sound full of ease. "More like this morning." A smile eased across her wrinkled face, warm enough to soften the sting. "Nothing to be sorry for, mind. You caused no trouble, and it was near time I rose, anyway."

"Was I loud?"

"You don't remember much, do you?"

'More like nothing at all.' Not that I said so, just gave a small nod.

"Did you hit your head?" asked Ria, her eyes wide with curiosity and worry. "My mum says that happens if you hit it too hard."

"No, Ria… just drank more than I should have."

"Oh, like old Rezzo," she beamed. "Dad said he woke up in the stables once, with no idea how he got there."

That landed a bit too close. "Something like that," I muttered, wincing as the pain throbbed behind my eyes. "Won’t be doing it again."

"Glad to hear it," Mrs. Scoresby hummed, her smile sharp as a fox’s. "Though it seemed you had your share of fun."

"Too much, apparently," I muttered. 'Seriously, why was I here and not in the barracks? They were across the street.'

"Sometimes that's what one needs. Seeing you reminded me of my younger days."

"It did?" Ria’s curiosity flared, and mine right with it.

"After long days at work, sometimes you need a night to cut loose." Her grin turned sharper. "That was before Liam, of course. Just like you, Korra, I often wound up being carried home by a few strong-armed lads."

I went still. "I-I ended up what?"

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                                                     Glossary

                                                   Korra’s Grid

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