Onyx had his head buried in the tavern's only quiet table.
Multiple empty mugs of ale surrounded him, and he was drooling endlessly on the table.
'I'm such a mess...'
He thought, unable to tell where he was due to the blurriness in his vision.
"You look terrible..."
Another voice said, sitting down on the other end of the table.
'When did they get here?'
He thought, trying to move his eyes upward and at the person who had invited themself over.
She yawned and leaned her head back against the wooden chair.
"Ya know? I didn't take my once favorite student to be a drowning alcoholic..."
"Pwofser Zwnela???"
Onyx muttered through a daze, studying who he thought used to be his teacher when he had attended Phoenix Academy.
She sighed.
"That bad?"
"Mhm."
He tried to agree then went limp against the table again.
How long had it been?
It was hard for Onyx to remember that kind of stuff anymore, he hadn't remembered anything since that horrible time...
He had not noticed how much the loss of his first love would have truly affected him.
He never even got to say goodbye...
The last time they had truly spoke, and not just meaning less banter within battle... Was when they had a falling out.
'I didn't want it to end like that...'
He tried to think, but could only reach for the nearest mug lazily.
Then a hand grabbed him by the wrist.
"No."
"No?"
"No."
"Oh."
Dragon went limp against the table again.
"Why?"
Zelenna rubbed her exhausted looking eyes and made a short prayer.
"Onyx, I hear there is going to be a raid soon, they have reestablished operation deforest... I want to bring you with me and form a small party. Try to reap some reward ya know?"
Onyx shook his head, which even that brought him dizziness.
"I don wana."
"I'm not asking..."
Her face turned cold and scary, making Onyx shutter under the gaze of his teacher's energetic pressure.
He sat there with his head down, rethinking his life choices for quite a while.
...
After about thirty minutes of nothing, Onyx finally began to sober up.
Lifting his head, he looked at Zelenna and frowned realizing that he was still in a social setting.
The music was blaring far too loud for his sensitive ears.
Yawning he raised his hand.
"Another ale please!"
"Idiot."
Zelenna's eyes narrowed at him and the frown on her face deepened.
"What is the meaning behind this? Shouldn't you be trying to keep order at the academy or something? You can't leave all of that to Barren-"
"Barren is gone."
"Dead!?"
Onyx would have spit ale out if he hadn't drank all of the six mugs on the table already.
"No he isn't dead."
"Damnit."
"Huh?"
"Never mind. What happened to him?"
Onyx had been quite confused, although he hated his combat teacher with a passion, he knew that no Paladin would have cause him to vanish or even die for that matter.
"He fled to the west, trying to reach out to King Mare for help or something."
"He fled?"
Zelenna nodded.
"So who is at the academy?"
The question brought a terrible amount of tension to the table.
"No one... The academy is not what it once was, King Rider is using it as a place for his soldiers to stay now..."
"Damn that bastard."
Onyx didn't necessarily care about revenge for Leander, although he did hate the way that he had been killed. Mainly because Leander would have never lost to Rider if they had truly fought, which just left a terrible ache in Onyx's stomach.
Or maybe he did care...
"You want something to happen at this raid?"
It was more of a statement than a question, Onyx knew his beast taming teacher well. He knew that she had other motives for entering such an event of her own free will.
She of course nodded.
"You know full well that when the time comes... You will follow the heir into Rider's kingdom, and I will be right there aside all of you. I cannot and will not allow Leander's death to go unpunished!"
She said loudly, slamming a fist on the table causing several mugs to fall over.
Onyx frowned.
"I don't want to fight senseless battles anymore. If we kill this guy, won't more just take his place?"
Maybe it was wrong to state a fact such as that, but Onyx knew that it was true. Sazir and Rhysara were dead, which meant that it was only natural course for Rider to follow in their wake, and who knows what could be next... Maybe Zen himself will lose his mind and rain down on the other kingdoms.
"You are right... But I care not for the future of myself. I care for the future of those after me, why do you think I became a teacher?"
His shoulders slumped, and he couldn't help but think in all of his teachers with a sense of awe. No matter how much he hated some of them, they had been there when very few had.
"Leander told me that the boy had a great purpose... And now that I know for certain that he is Blaze's heir... I- I just don't know if I can involve myself in such a deadly path. You know as well as I do that even standing by his side will be a deathwish."
She shook her head.
"If you stand by his side now, and stand by his side then... You will realize that maybe it was worth it, maybe Summer would be proud of you..."
Onyx wanted to thrash out in violence at the mention of Summer, but Zelenna had cared for the girl just as much as he had... So what right did he have to argue his grief with her truth.
"Fine! I'll fight in this stupid war."
"Good, because as I said, you don't have much of a choice."
Finally the bartender set a mug on his table, and he happily brought the ale to his lips, trying to enjoy one last moment of bliss.