Hedgie led Alix to her inn that was just a few minutes away. When they arrived Alix felt more confident in her decision to follow the woman. Unlike the rest of the inns around here, Hedgie's actually seemed well-kept.
There was even a Lumi crystal hanging outside of the entrance like a sort of welcoming beacon. Every other place had swing open flames that could burn down the entire dock if the wind blows too hard.
"Welcome to the Pirate's Worst Nightmare, girly." Hedgie gestured for Alix to enter to which she complied. The moment she walked through the doors of the building Alix felt a hundred times more stable. The floor here wasn't moldy or on the verge of breaking.
'We really found a good place to stay the night." Alix stated to Mo and Trouler genuinely shocked.
'I'm as surprised as you! I honestly thought that we were gonna have to beat some punks into submission and steal their rest spot. That you were gonna need me and Trouler to watch closely throughout the night to make sure nobody came and tried anythin' while ya slept! This is far less dangerous."
Alix could not even begin to dive into the wildness of the fish's imagination. She instead turned to Hedgie and bowed apologetically.
"I apologize for my wariness earlier. I did not know what to expect from the place named after its uncleanliness. You clearly meant me no harm and I thank you for allowing my stay." The woman waved dismissively.
"Don't even worry about it. I was happy enough to see you knock poor ole Kent out. It was one of the funniest things that I've seen all day." The woman smacked the Kent on the back.
"Kent approached me very brashly while I was scared out of my wits. I would say that he got what he deserved." Hedgie laugh at Alix's statment.
"Tell me girl. What's your name?"
"Alix." She responded flatly.
"Well, Alix. Feel free to stay here as long as ya need! I assume you came down here to keep those monsters of yours?" The woman nodded at Trouler and Mo as spoke.
"That is correct."
"Makes sense. Those swanky inns up top are so uptight when it comes to their rules. Not like us down her in the filth!" Hedgie laughed yet again this time with Alix smile along with her.
Hedgie led the girl to one of the open rooms and gave her the key. Alix entered the room. It was quite nice.
There was a lantern next to the bed, a nice desk against the wall, and the bed looked plenty comfy. Not to mention that the room was decently sized.
Alix nodded and walked directly to the bed. She didn't even put Mo's fishbowl down as she collapsed onto the bed. She was exhausted. Understandably so as she had just been scared out of her mind for the past half hour.
Alix drifted off to sleep not even having time to worry about what the next days events had in store for her.
The long night ended and Alix awoke the following morning completely refreshed. She felt something soft close to her face. She awoke seeing that had Trouler climbed up and slept next to her.
Alix smiled warmly petting the peccary before getting up from the bed. She left the room returning to the main area which was more akin to a pub. Hedgie was behind the counter and based on the scent that entered Alix's nose she was cooking something.
"Oh, you're awake? With how hard you crashed last night I thought you were gonna sleep the day away." Alix smirked proudly.
"I have trained myself to avoid situations...like....that." Alix's body betrayed her in that moment as she started to yawn mid-sentence. Hedgie chuckled at the sight.
"You may have trained your mind but your body hasn't got the memo. You should go wash up while I finish up here. I promise that my food ain't nothing too bad."
Alix nodded to the idea. She had been walking through a rainforest for weeks. She felt that a bath was very much needed. She also needed to change out of her old school uniform. Why had she even worn it this far?
"Where is the washroom?"
"There's one across from your room. You can use that same key to get into it. Take your time." Alix nodded and left for the bath. She also took the opportunity to clean Trouler and Mo. They also had a big day in store anyway.
'Woah! Hey watch the scales! Yer scrubbin to hard!"
'You have all this gunk on them and it is difficult to get it off. Stop whining and let me clean you!"
'Yer gonna scrub them off!
After a nice long bath, Alix felt fully ready to take the day on. She changed from her school uniform to the outfit that she wore when training Eric and Cas.
An black t-shirt and blue camo pants with some black combat boots on as well. It was the only other set of clothes suitable for the upcoming event. She did decide against wearing the shades and whistle.
She had also neglected to braid her hair so it was fully unraveled all the way down to the center of her back. She made sure everything was straight before grabbing her stuff.
She wrapped her spellcaster robe around her waist and returned to the...I guess pub is the only fitting description after all.
"Wow! I honestly thought you'd come out looking with the same clothes but you look completely different." Hedgie called out to Alix from a table with three plates of food set out. Alix joined the woman at the table.
Alix eyed the third plate in confusion. Hedgie noticed this and explained.
"That one's for whenever Kent comes out. That boy, sometimes I swear that boy casted his brain into the sea and never reeled it back in." Alix didn't say much during the meal. She mostly just listened to Hedgie talk occasionally responding.
After finishing the food and making sure Mo and Trouler also ate Alix got up to leave.
"Got somewhere to be?" Hedgie asked.
"Marconix. The entrance ceremony is today. Starts in around and a hour." Hedgie leaned back surprised.
"So you're a new student at the royal academy? And here I thought all the kids that went there were stuck up brats. Well I hope the things go well for you." Alix frowned.
"Why would they not?" Hedgie shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. You should get going if you want to make it in time." Alix wished that the woman answered her question but she was not incorrect. Alix waved to Hedgie and rushed out of the building.
Almost directly after Alix left a boy with a black eye exited the back.
"Well look whose finally awake!" Hedgie teased the young man. He glared at her while walking over to the table.
"What happened last night?" Hedgie smiled mockingly at him.
"Young captain Tyrio was KO'd by a mysterious beauty!"