Mori was staring at the ceiling.
He was lying down on the bed, in a room Brök had prepared for them.
Liquor had poured all night. Xannos and Lilae were in a festive mood, matching Brök's energy.
Aura had also some to drink, but less than the others. She couldn't match their energy at all, and took comfort in Mori being around, who also didn't drink much.
Drinking wasn't something he disliked, however he avoided excess as much as he could.
Oftentimes when offered, he'd just slide his drink to Xannos or Lilae, they would chug it down in an instant.
In a matter of hours, both of them had fallen asleep on the counter.
Brök took them in his arms, bringing them to their room like princesses.
Mori and Aura had done the same, easily finding their room while Brök took care of the others.
And there they were.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Mori.
Mori was on his back, close to the wall, while Aura was at the edge of the bed.
There was easily an arm's length between them.
If the lamps hadn't been off, he would've seen her face bright red.
As the thought crossed his mind, he asked her, "What do you think of what you've seen so far?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you wanted to see more of this world, what do you think so far?" he asked.
"Hmm."
Aura was thinking hard, recalling everything they had seen.
"I think Dustriver was my favorite place, however, when we exited the forest around the mansion it was quite a moment. The plains on our way here were something, and that tornado we saw..."
"A tornado would've been way taller than 1 meter in height," said Mori.
Aura had a disappointed face, not that Mori could see it, anyway.
"Hmm. I think my favorite part has been the people we met. Surprising how vulgar people are in real life, more than you..."
"You thought I was vulgar?"
"Father never would've let me speak to him that way... You were something back there. But everyone we've met... Especially Lilae..."
Without really knowing why, he held her in his arms.
—~~~—
Mori opened his eyes to the ceiling he had been staring at the night prior.
As he looked down, Aura's head was lodged on his shoulder, while she was still on top of him.
He could feel her chest slowly pushing against his, still sound asleep, her heavy breathing being a testament to that.
Mori rested his head back on the pillow. It must've been early morning, he could already hear noise coming from the lobby downstairs.
He could still feel Aura's hands holding him, he wondered how had they not gone numb after a whole night?
"Aura?" whispered Mori.
Mori felt her moving, slowly moving her head.
"Maya? Where..."
Aura raised her head, realizing where she was, as if reality was only just coming back.
It hit like a truck. Hearing her name for the first time in days.
Mori hugged Aura, bringing her closer again.
"I'm sorry, Aura. I miss them too," he said.
He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment.
Truth was, they would never leave his mind. Life is built of encounters, and that was one he wasn't ready to say goodbye to.
"I'll never forgive them. I won't rest until they're all dead, I promise you."
Aura wasn't answering, but he could feel her holding him tightly, as they stayed in that position for minutes while life was awakening in the village.
"Will you ever forgive yourself?" she asked, whispering in his ears.
"I can't. There will be nobody who can forgive for what I plan to do to them."
"I feel the same anger."
Aura's voice had hesitation in it, but Mori could tell she was honest.
"Let's join the others," he finally said. "There's a long day ahead of us."
Aura rolled on the bed and then sat on the side, while massaging her cheeks.
"I look forward to the journey," she said.