Seri got up and helped him to his feet after grabbing her cloak and handed his back to him. "The lighthouse is on the western side of the city just out in the bay. If we're lucky we can walk all the way there. If not, we'll have to take the boat there. Should take no longer than ten-fifteen minutes to get there from here."

"Lead the way," chirped Neven as he followed Seri out of the tower.

Seri lead Neven back down the narrow steps on the eastern wall down to street level and headed due west. She insisted on jogging there instead of walking, "Race ya!" She took off running with the thief in tow as she passed the Neverending Story Tavern and the barracks. She was very adept at avoiding obstacles and people. She had to be especially when dodging the militia. "Hurry up, slow poke!"

Neven initially took off at a trot before she egged him on and then the Thief was a full sprint. As Neven ran, he came up with a dastardly idea. Slipping his cloak over his head, The Thief disappeared into the Shadow Realm and ran ahead of Seri expecting her to stop once she noticed that he was nowhere behind him.

Seri looked back occasionally to see if Neven was keeping pace with her. He was but then she noticed he vanished. "Drat!" She muttered out loud and continued onward to the lighthouse. One way or another she planned on meeting him at the docks at least.

Moving through the Spirit Realm, Neven was able to not only quickly gain ground but also pass Seri until he came to the docks, emerged from the shadow of a warehouse and waited until Seri showed up.

And when she did appear, Neven asked nonchalantly, "What took you so long, slow poke? I was starting to think you had lost your way."

*********

Madeous awoke from a good night's sleep. He stretched a bit before reciting the dogma of Bahamut quietly facing north. When he was finished, he exited the room and waited downstairs for Irzen and Willow to join him.

Both Irzen and Willow joined the Platinum Knight in the commons area of the tavern. Both of the Elves looked completely refreshed and renewed. Irzen even had a smile on his face, "Good morning, Madeous, I hope you slept well. I know I did."

"Rest was what I truly needed," Willow confessed, "And I'm glad I got it last night."

Madeous looked up from his table and chuckled, "You look much better after a good rest. Both of you considering where I heard you escaped from on your way here. Especially you, Irzen. Off to the lighthouse for breakfast then, or have you decided to get your meal here?"

"I say let's build up an appetite, Willow," The Swordsman announced, "Let's head back to the lighthouse and have our meal there."

"I have no objections," The Ranger added, "We can wait until you are finished with your drink, Madeous."

"Drink? No, I don't drink in the morning only after too much stress or a battle." Madeous got up from seat and saw the blur of Seri and Neven racing past the entrance of the tavern. "Looks like the thief and his new friend are gonna beat us there."

Irzen laughed, "That's okay! Let them! We can talk while we walk. Besides, I expect The Bronze Man is going to probably have quite a feast laid out for us so I doubt anyone is going to eat us out of our rightful portions."

"Ha ha ha! Fair enough," Madeous said as he head out of the tavern back down the street to the lighthouse, "You will be surprised by the seemingly infinite selection of food that the Bronze Man hosts for guests, Irzen. Rather it is his head cook, Chef Hallas, the man knows how to cook anything."

"I'll take your word for it," Irzen replied, "Is this Chef Hallas from here or Earth? His name sounds familiar to me."

*********

Alyson stood there smiling as the ladies were the first to arrive, well most of them. "Hello Serna, did you have fun with Caliaphy?"

"Madame Mabel, its so good to see you again," the elementalist walked up to the red haired Irish woman of whom she had become good friends with as a child, giving her a hug. She looked up to Madame Mabel as a adoptive mom when spending her summers here.

"Alyson? You have grown up! And into a fine young woman, strong and proud!" The Irish woman hugged her in return and stepped back in awe, "So, that's what the bronze man wanted you to be fitted for."

Alyson raised an eye brow, "Oh? He and I are gonna have a nice little conversation about this robe later."

"Hahaha! I bet! Can't wait to see the look on his face either!" Madame Mabel laughed out loud.

"Lady, here's your robe and gear...?" Quake did a double take at Alyson's current outfit, "umm, is that what I think it is?"

Without uttering a single world, the elementalist merely nodded to Quake. ~ A nice long conversation about this robe, Lazheros. ~

"WOW!" Serna gasped when she saw the robe, "It's beautiful, Lady Alyson, when did you have it made?"

"It was a gift from the Bronze Man." Alyson told Serna.

Coming down the stairs behind her was the Bronze Man who came in at the end of the conversation with a look of confusion, "And what conversation would that be, Alyson?"

Looking past the elementalist over to Quake, Madame Mabel, Caliaphy, and the shield maiden, "Welcome to the lighthouse, Serna. Please make yourself comfortable. The breakfast buffet is through the doors next to Alyson on the left."

"Thank you!" Serna curtsied before she looked around the room and followed the others through the doors.

He didn't have to ask Quake as she lead the group of hungry people past the elementalist and into the dining area. Every food known to the group was laid out in a magnificent display before.

Alyson turned around and shook her head at The Bronze Man. "Perhaps, our guests would like to hear about the true story behind this gift of yours?"

Lazheros narrowed his eyes at her comment, "You wouldn't dare."

"Challenge accepted." The elementalist leaned towards him closely, "Oh, I dare and *wux daratrix.* You will have to wait and see."

She left him standing at the base of spiral stairs and walked into the dining room where the others went.

Lazheros sighed. Somehow he knew this memory would surface in the form a silly story more in the benefit of his guests than himself. ~ Alysiane...please don't.~

In the dining hall, the elementalist had a plate of food for herself and a glass of citrus juice in hand. She sat down at the far end of the table next the large end chair that belonged to The Bronze Man. ~ You could of told me the real reason why but you did not so, you'll just have to grin and bear like everyone else.~

Caliaphy sat down with a plate of fruit next to Alyson. "Sorry, I didn't have a chance to say hi earlier, Alyson. Was kinda busy helping the Bronze Man out."

"And you've made a new friend too, I see Caliaphy." The elementalist smiled at the fairy. "Although, I don't remember seeing you in a small size so to speak."

"Ahahahaha!" Caliaphy burst out laughing, "You're funny, Alyson! Oh so funny! Ahahaha! I really missed you. We all did and we are so glad that you're back!"

"It's good to be back, Caliaphy," Alyson slowly sipped her juice.

Quake walked over with a huge plate of food and a entire pitcher of fire water and sat down across from Alyson and Caliaphy. "Lady! This food is awesome! So many choices to pick from! Can you believe it."

"Believe what, Quake?" The elementalist gave her creation an odd look.

"War Scribe actually played Hide and Seek last night with Serna and Caliaphy!" Quake grinned.

Alyson nearly spit out her drink onto the table and caught herself just in time with a napkin. "What?!?"

"Oh, yes. That silly drowling did play with us and she amazingly did not cheat. It was great! We had lots of fun, right Serna?"

"Yeah, we really did," Serna agreed as she dived into her meal, "War Scribe didn't cheat at all! She played fair and square. But you know what, Lady Alyson, you offered to tell us about how you got your gift. I would love to hear it, if you don't mind."

"Figures she would actually play by the rules here," The elementalist shook her head disbelief.

Madame Mabel sat down next to Quake across from Alyson and Caliaphy with her own plate of bread, cheese, and ham and eggs as well as her cup of Irish coffee. "So, you all would like to 'ear the tale of how Alyson got 'er gift eh?"

"Well," Alyson started to tell her side of the story. "It was the following year I returned to Asylum. I couldn't wait for school to get out and come back for the summer again. Mind you, I was a bit feistier than the previous year, and two, I knew what to expect when I did come back."

"Feisty," The Bronze Man had come in quietly listening to them talk to each other. He sat down with a small plate of fish and cup of tea at the head of the table, "is an understatement."

She turned to him smiling, "All I wanted to do was play that summer but apparently you had other ideas."

Madame Mabel took her que from the silence of the Bronze Man staring at Alyson, "Ideas of wanting her to sit still for a fitting that she wanted no part of."

"Think of it as having to sit while someone wants to paint a portrait of you. That's all fine and dandy if you're an adult because you have the patience and sit there." Alyson took a sip of her citrus drink and sat back in the chair.

"All you had to do was cooperate for a hour," Lazheros said quietly stirring his tea, "But you did not one bit."

The Irish woman chuckled, "I believe that's when you sent word for my assistance in the matter due to, and I quote: One very unruly, wild cat of a child!"

Both Quake and Caliaphy burst out laughing. They thought is was outright hysterical that Alyson was a little hellion back then. "AHAHAHAHA!"

Serna joined in the laughter before she egged Alyson on, "Please tell us more! What happened next?"