"The night is young, Sebastian. Please remain with us," Jules requested, his voice warm and hopeful.
"Yeah, sure. The night is young after all!" Sebastian smiled, letting the music and laughter melt into the soft shadows.
The celebration continued, filled with radiant lanterns, wild dances, and loud, drunken laughter.
Eventually, the moon began to dip behind the hills, surrendering to the golden haze of dawn.
One by one, the Emeralds retreated to their rooms tired, exhausted, happy, and some of them definitely still drunk calling it a night as they drifted of to sleep
KNOCK!!
A sudden knock broke the stillness.
Sebastian groaned, dragging himself off the ground, mumbling something half-formed under his breath.
"Who's at the door?" Sapphire's sleepy voice called out from the bed, barely audible.
"Let me check," Sebastian muttered, rubbing his eyes.
He cracked the door half open, revealing Jules, the village chief. His wrinkled face was a map of patience and slight embarrassment.
"Did I disturb you guys? Is this a bad time?" Jules asked, scratching his beard nervously.
"No, no! Not at all!" Sebastian turned his head back to whisper, "It's Jules."
Sapphire jolted upright, hastily fixing her hair and smoothing her dress.
"Yeah, okay, call him in," she whispered.
Sebastian cleared his throat. "What are you waiting for, Jules! Treat it like it's your home!" he laughed, forgetting briefly that the guest rooms were always Jules to begin with.
Jules chuckled. "There's no need, Sebastian. I just came to invite you for the feast. Thirty minutes from now. It's important. We need everyone to come."
"Sure, sure! That won't be a problem," Sebastian said, chuckling awkwardly.
"Alright then. I shall take my leave. See you all soon." Jules bowed slightly before walking away.
The door shut.
Sebastian spun around. "Get ready, we only have thirty minutes! I'm going to wake the others!"
"Thirty minutes?! How's that going to be enough?!" Sapphire wailed.
"Figure that out soon then!" Sebastian bolted down the hall.
"Klaus! Sirius! WAKE UP!" he screamed into the front window. No response.
He screamed again "KLAUS!! SIRIUS!!, WAKE UPPP!"
"Drunken idiots," he grumbled. "Elijah and Sukiro it is."
He charged toward their room.
"ELIJAH! SUKIRO!
WAKE UP! GUYS WAKE UPPP!"
"Elijah moved, he heard me but his pretending i have yell more"
"ELIJAH! SUKIRO"
"Ugh... shut up!!" Elijah groaned, burying his head under the pillow.
"We don't have money here..." Sukiro muttered in his sleep.
"I don't want your money, I need you guys"
"Seb, stop being so romantic with us," Elijah grumbled.
"Idiots!!" He yelled
"I'm going to break this door in five seconds if you don't open it!"
"Seb, it's not that deep. Chill," Elijah said, stretching with a smirk.
"One!"
"Two!"
"Three!"
"Four!"
"They're really testing me..." Sebastian stepped back and rolled his fist.
"FIVE!!!"
The door opened just in time.
Sebastian's punch stopped inches from Elijah's chest.
"Seb, gotta control yourself. There's kids watching," Elijah said dryly, pointing at Sukiro.
"YOU!!"
"Can we stop shouting? This is the first thing I wake up to?" Sukiro mumbled.
"It's 11. I don't think we can call it morning!" Sebastian grunted.
"What's with all the yelling?!" Klaus stumbled in, half-awake walking as if he was still drunk.
"You're up?!"
"Yeah, you probably woke the whole village." Sirius yawned.
"Get ready, we have thirty minutes to get to the feast!"
"Feast?! Is the deer there?!" Sukiro lit up, his sleep replaced with excitement
"Probably," Sebastian grinned.
"We can't miss this then! Everyone, meet at my room in twenty minutes!" Sukiro declared.
They party gave their thumbs up in agreement
"It's my room too," Elijah muttered.
Sukiro ignored him as if he didn't hear him and marched off.
Twenty minutes later...
"I've been here for fifteen minutes," Sukiro sighed sitting at the stairs with the others
"Yeah, it took way less than expected. Ten minutes would've been more than enough," Sirius agreed.
"Poor Sebastian though, he's been knocking on that door for the full twenty." Klaus watched amused.
"Sapphire! Are you ready yet?!"
"This is gonna take a while," Klaus sighed.
"Yeah..." Elijah said, arms folded.
"Come on! It's been thirty minutes! We were supposed to be at the feast by now!"
"Just five more minutes!" Sapphire called.
"Five more minutes!!" Sebastian collapsed against the door, spirit leaving his body.
"Well, he chose his path. Nothing we can do now," Elijah shrugged.
The door finally opened.
Sebastian tried to get up he knew if he didn't he would be crushed but it was too late...
Sapphire stepped right over him.
"Sebastian! Go on, I'm ready!"
"Down here..." he croaked.
Sapphire looks beneath her feet and finds sebastian
"Oh no! Sorry! I didn't see you there!" She picked him up frantically.
She shakes him intensely waiting for a response "Sebastian! You alive?! Wake up!"
The others waited at the steps, half-dead from hunger.
Elijah leaned against a wall. Sirius was asleep. Klaus checked his outfit for the hundredth time. Sukiro was still watching the same insect hop from the last 30 minutes
Sebastian blinked open his eyes, looking up at Sapphire. Her panic. Her closeness.
He blushed and fainted again.
"Sebastian!!!"
Later at the feast...
"Sorry we were a bit late," Sebastian laughed nervously.
"Yeah, Sebastian took forty minutes to get ready," Sapphire teased.
"Five minutes is all i toke! The rest was you! I was locked out!" Sebastian thought to himself.
"What can we say? Sometimes things happen," he said aloud, glancing at Sapphire.
"You were only ten minutes late. That's normal," Jules chuckled.
He gestured at the grand table. "Come sit. We've prepared the feast."
The Emeralds joined the village officials. Fresh meat, roasted vegetables, and local delicacies lined the long wooden table.
"As you know, we have a problem with dungeon outbreaks," Jules said, picking at his food.
"If it weren't for the barrier, things would've gone south."
"Yes, we're aware," Sebastian said calmly.
"Why request an outside clean-up when there was a dungeon inside?" Elijah asked.
Jules smirked. "So the hunters wouldn't get scared and accept the mission earlier. And we technically weren't lying."
"Genius!" Klaus exclaimed.
"We were inspired by someone at this table," one official said, nodding toward Elijah.
"If it isn't much to ask, Would you guys clean up outside too?" Jules asked.
"Sure. It'd be extra training," Sebastian agreed.
Sukiro, mid-bite with deer meat his lips covered in the sauce, raised a question.
"Who put up the barrier in the first place?"
"A great mage. Not to mention he was a Part of a powerful party," Jules answered.
The Emeralds exchanged small smiles.
Later, back in their rooms, the team prepared.
"Sukiro, are you up for this mission?" Sebastian asked.
"Yeah, you bet I am!" Sukiro said eagerly.
"Okay then. Be careful and stick close to me."
"Yeah, sure, grandpa," Sukiro sighed.
"Getting sarcastic now? Elijah's influence taking a toll on you?"
Sukiro rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. Like that would happen."
They looked at each other...
And both burst out laughing.