Not How Wine Works

The guests were all sat down on their circular tables. Most of the other members of the Lux Congregation like Gurpreet and Rory had arrived and were sat next to each other, with both deciding not to mention the obvious reason. Kazumi was sat with Ola and her partner, a nice looking if slightly unkempt man. Sylvestro was with Fen Hou, and Mia was with Nuria. Marcel was supposed to be sitting next to Zach, but he didn’t show up.

At the centre of the dining room was one huge circular table with an elegant teal tablecloth over it instead of the pure white of the rest of them. Freyja sat opposite the door, while her husbands sat opposite their children. All the children except Willow, who was sat with Javier and the Miracle Group right behind Freyja, with two empty seats at the table reserved for Luminita and her date.

Julian looked tired, dragging his finger along the tablecloth while Cassandra was leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Roxanne had her arms by her side at least trying to look refined in the presence of everyone else. Javier was doing the same and Willow was looking deep in thought with closed eyes.

Finally, the food arrived. Willow ordered everyone grilled bass and cod, the specialty of Vannana with the source right in the same room they were in. Roxanne took a bite of it, and her eyes lit up as soon as the taste hit her tongue.

“Damn, this is some good fish.” Julian mumbled to himself.

“It really is.” Javier responded.

“Ugh, when’s Luminita getting here?” Willow asked nobody in particular.

“Yeah, it is weird her and her dad are running late.” Javier nodded. “You think a dragon came for their ship or something?”

“Nah, I’m guessing the radar on their ship would be way too good to allow that. Maybe something came up with their date.” Julian said.

In the table in front of him was Zach, calling someone in between bites of steak, but not getting a reply. His wife placed a calming hand on his shoulder, and he put his phone away with a sigh.

“Hey, Willow?” Julian whispered. “If you want, I could make your mom look like a jackass in front of everyone, you cool with that?”

Willow glanced at her mom, and back at Julian. “Feel free to try.”

“Excuse me, waiter?” Julian asked, offering them his glass of milk. “What options are there for wine?”

“Quite a few, sir. Any idea what you’d like?”

“What’s Freyja having?”

“The Carvaran red, sir.”

“I’ll trust her judgement. One for me, please.”

Within a few minutes, a glass of red wine was placed in front of Julian, and he immediately took a sip.

“Hmm, seems to be well aged.” Julian said calmly.

“How aged?” Cassandra asked.

“Let me test real quick.” He replied, casually swirling his glass in front of him. “Hm, another to be sure.” He swirled it again.

“What are you doing, exactly?” Javier asked.

“You know how you can tell how old a tree by the number of rings inside it? Wine’s the same, where there’s a number of ripples that correlates with how old it is. I don’t know the exact rate of ripples to years, but It’s the type of thing a good host should know.”

“Really now?” Willow asked with a sly look, which Julian was slowly matching. “Well, Freyja should probably know.”

“Good point. Hey Freyja, how old do you reckon the wine is?”

Willow looked to Freyja’s back, and her right arm was making slight movements. She was clearly trying to test it.

“If I were to guess…” Freyja started. “This particular glass has five ripples, so aged about fifteen years, I’d reckon.”

“Yeah, that makes sense…wait a minute!” Julian said, sounding extra loud at the end of his sentence. “I just remembered the rate!”

“And what would the rate be?” Freyja asked from the front.

“No idea, I made all that up.”

A couple stifled laughs started to emerge among the tables, with Rory being the loudest by quite an excessive margin. Freyja started fidgeting at her table while Willow fist-bumped Julian. Julian just took a calm sip of his wine.

Dinner was somewhat quiet after that, with Freyja eating ever so slightly faster. Once her meal was finished, she stood up and calmly tapped her fork against her empty wine glass.

“Well, everyone. I believe we had a good meal with some festivities that came alongside it.” Freyja said. “But I do believe we should rest easy before the ball tomorrow.”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Julian said. “Guests are on floor three, right? We’ll be seeing you.”

Julian took Cassandra by the hand and ran to the third floor, all while Freyja glowered at them.

“So, Roxanne.” Willow asked, putting a friendly arm around her. “We rooming or what?”

“Willow.” Freyja said calmly from behind her. “You will be with Javier.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“He will be sleeping in your room. Now, Roxanne. Kazumi has come alone, so you will be sharing a room with her. Okay?”

“Okay.” Roxanne said with a slight nod. For all the joking Julian pulled at her expense, her aura still terrified her. Or maybe Julian’s antics amplified it, who was to say?

“You’re in the fifteenth room on floor three.”

Roxanne made her way up to the third floor without much issue. A few servants and Zach took pity on her leg and offered to carry her up, but she made it herself without any major issues. When she walked inside the room, Kazumi was already there, watching a movie and quietly chuckling to herself. The movie looked old, and on the screen was a man pretending to be a father to a monkey.

“What are you watching?” Roxanne asked.

“Breakfast for Buddy.” Kazumi replied. “Did you know that’s the former president of Sandala on screen?”

Roxanne glanced at the small screen, and it looked kind of like one of the presidents. So this is what politicians get up to when not running things. Fascinating.

“So anyway, how are your friends?”

“They’re pretty good.” Roxanne said calmly, lying on her bed. Suddenly, all the fatigue from today’s antics caught up to her all at once, and she knew that leaving the bed would be basically impossible.

“Hey, I’m gonna go to sleep now.” She was asleep before she heard Kazumi’s reply.

Roxanne shot up from her bed. She didn’t remember anything about being nothing, and nothing built up in her mouth, even after a few dry heaves just to be sure. Her ears started registering the knocking on her door, which was very polite for how late it was. 02:00. Kazumi was up, giving a look to Roxanne through groggy eyes.

“For you?” She asked wearily.

“Think so.” Roxanne yawned. She slowly got out of her bed and opened the door, where Julian and Cassandra were waiting. Before he said a word, Julian handed Roxanne a tall black can. The only thing on it was a brand name-Blue Orchid, and a picture of some fruit.

“We’re meeting the other two on the roof, you’re coming.”

It wasn’t even a request, just a very nonchalant demand. Tired, she made her way up to the roof, where the chill breeze of the area slightly woke her up. There was a gazebo in the middle of the roof, where two people were waiting.

“Roxanne, you made it.”

Willow was tapping the cushion next to her, and Roxanne sat between her and Javier while Julian and Cassandra sat opposite them.

“You doing good, Willow?” Julian asked jokingly, taking a can from the wooden table at the centre of the gazebo.

"I'm better than you’ll ever be.” She retorted back, stumbling forward to grab another drink.

“Wait, are these alcoholic?” Roxanne asked, looking at Javier casually sipping his drink.

“Yeah. Tastes more like fruit though, don’t worry.”

“Ah. Cool.” Roxanne opened the can Julian gave her and took a sip. It was basically dryer fruit juice with a strange aftertaste, but it tasted pretty good.

“Hey, would this be your first time drinking alcohol?” Julian asked before gulping down his own can.

“It…would be, yeah.” Roxanne replied. She was twenty, the legal drinking age, for six months, and only now was she getting around to drinking.

“So how is it?” Cassandra asked, grabbing another can and drinking its contents without stopping to breath.

“Pretty good.” Roxanne nodded, taking another sip.

“Cassandra, how many cans have you drank already?” Javier asked.

“This is can number four.” Cassandra replied casually.

Javier looked at Willow and the two cans next to her. She was already leaning against the wall making kissy noises at nothing in particular.

“Yeah, it was a while before I learned what happens when you drink too much. It just never happened to me.”

“Huh. Do people have a higher tolerance where you’re from?” Javier asked casually.

“Where I’m from?” Cassandra asked. She felt a small itch build up in her throat. “I…don’t actually know.”

“You don’t know?”

“I just…woke up on the Miracle Ship a few years ago with no memories. Went on some exhibitions around the place to see if it would jog any memories, but nothings come up yet.”

“Well, what’s most likely, in your mind?”

“I guess...maybe here?” She whispered, looking over the castle roof to the dim lights of the city. “I suppose I look the most like the people here.”

“Nope!” Willow yelled. “I’ve never seen you before. And I’d know if someone as hot as you were around!”

“The lady makes a valid point.” Julian replied calmly, taking another sip.

Roxanne had finished a can of her drink quicker than before. Her and Willow reached for the last two cans at the same time.

“Woah…hey Roxanne, wanna see who can down this fastest?” Willow asked, already slouching over.

“Um, sure.” Roxanne nodded, already beginning to gulp down the can’s contents. Willow started, angling her face back to get the most liquid in. Roxanne tried copying her technique, but Willow slammed her can on the table when Roxanne was just finishing.

“Woooow, Roxanne.” Willow said, crawling over to her. “You can realllly throw cans back.”

“Oh! Thanks.” Roxanne yelped back. She felt her head get lighter as the smell of Willow’s breath came closer to her. Roxanne leaned in and before she knew it, her lips were pressed against Willow’s. For a few brief moments, the world around them started to fade from view as her eyes closed. And then they separated.

“Okay, you know what?” Cassandra announced as she took Roxanne by the shoulders. “I think we’ve all had our share of drink, so we should probably go.”

“Why are you like my mom?” Willow groaned.

“Yeah, why are you like her mom?” Roxanne repeated.

“Okay, you are definitely too drunk.” Julian said to Roxanne. “Let’s get you to bed.”

It took a couple of stumbles, and one straight up faceplant just before the stairs, but Roxanne was in her bed. He went back to his own room, where Cassandra was waiting. Just looking at the ceiling without getting under the covers. And she was looking pretty distressed.

“Something up?” Julian asked, lying down next to her.

“Look, you know how Javier was asking about where I came from?” Cassandra asked.

“Yeah.” Julian replied. “Why, you got an idea?”

“Look, what if I’m with the Legion?”

Julian shot up at this, trying to force a smile at her joke. “Um, excuse me?”

“Look, when we were fighting on Inariu, one of them said I was important to them. So what if I was a solider for the Legion before I lost my memories?”

“Well, are you a Legion member now?” Julian asked casually, lying down next to her.

“Well, no, but…”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about.” Julian said as he closed his eyes. “I’ve had more than my share of Legion encounters, and you are no Legion member. And if you were, we’ll deal with that then. Anyway, goodnight.”

Cassandra felt her nerves calm down, at least a little. Nobody ever recognised her as a Legion member, which probably meant something. So she lay down next to him, and he placed his arms around her. But with one question potentially solved, another came up.

Just who was she?