The group arrived at the inn at Badon two days later. Serra took a look around. The place was relatively clean, and had drapes covering the windows to protect patrons from the blazing sun.

"Ah, what delight!" Sain exclaimed upon entry. He immediately walked over to the counter and dropped several coins into Anna's hand. "I would like one room, please, for me and my beauteous love!" He reached over and pulled Fiora close to him. "Although, I suppose you could stop by sometime during the – OW!" He turned to the Pegasus knight, who had just slapped him across the face. "What transgression have I done, my love?" he asked.

Fiora turned to Anna and dropped another several coins on the counter. "I'll take another room, please." She then stormed off to the lodgings.

Serra smiled and walked over to the paladin. "Way to go, Sain," she teased.

He looked at her. Oops, she thought.

"Ah…I'm sorry?" he sputtered. He blinked several times, apparently trying to make the no-longer-an-assassin disappear. She paused for a second, and then quickly retreated to the bar.

Jaffar, meanwhile, was standing in a corner, hoping that it was dark enough for him not to be noticed. He looked around, hoping that he could get away from anyone who approached before they actually reached him.

"Hey, why's Serra off by herself?" Guy asked Priscilla.

"Um, I don't know…" she answered. "Maybe someone should go talk to her."

They both looked at Erk.

"I really don't think I'm the one to talk to her…" he muttered.

"Okay, I'll go," Priscilla decided. Erk glanced at her, and then decided that she would be fine. Jaffar would probably just ignore her, anyway. She went to sit with Serra and the two began to talk. Erk began to look away, but then quickly snapped his head back to Priscilla and "Serra". They were talking? Jaffar was talking?

Priscilla was laughing?

His jaw dropped slightly. Guy looked over to him in concern. "You okay, Erk? You look like you could use a drink!" He jumped up and ran over to the bar.

Erk stood up and strode over to the two of them.

"…and then I said, 'That's just a scratch!' and he told me that if I didn't heal it his mommy would make him stay home!" the pink-haired cleric said, giggling.

Priscilla was howling with laughter. "Oh, listen to this one! I had to heal one of the court mages once during a fight, and he tried to steal my staff! He seemed to think that he would do a better job of healing than I would." She shook her head. "Isn't that silly? I mean, everybody knows you can't heal yourself!"

They both turned to Erk, who was staring at them in complete disbelief.

"…Erk? Are you okay?" Priscilla asked in concern.

Guy suddenly appeared, somehow holding seven flagons of ale. "This'll make you feel better!" he said, grinning. "Oh, did you want some too, Priscilla?"

"No, thank you," she answered. "I try to avoid drinking anything except water, if I can." She turned back to He That Was Inside Serra. "I've had some interesting experiences with that, too…have you ever tried to heal a drunken man?"

The two continued to engage in conversation, while Erk began to make his way through the ale.

Timnon arrived later that night. He waited until the bar was mostly empty, and then walked in and approached the front desk. It was, fortunately, unoccupied, so he picked the drawer open and grabbed a room key (as well as several gold pieces and a small ruby).

He started down the hall toward the back room. As he walked, he was nearly hit by a door that flew open. A green-armored knight stumbled back into the hall and fell backward against the wall.

"Goodnight, Sain!" an angry female voice yelled. The door slammed back shut. The man gave Timnon a sheepish grin. "Alas, I must remain in solitude tonight."

Timnon watched the knight walk to his room, then turned and continued down the hall. Once again, he was met with an angry couple.

"You idiot!" a young green-haired girl screeched as she opened the door from another room. "How could you say that about Dan?"

"I'm sorry," a young man responded. "It's just that this is the fourth time I've seen him with a girl since he joined…"

"So? I've not once heard you say that about Sain!"

"Rebecca, I meant 'Casanova' as a compliment! I'm sure he would think it was funny…"

She slammed the door in his face and stomped down the hall. "Sorry about that," she muttered to Timnon as she walked past.

He nodded his head. "I hope they're this easy to watch all the time," he mumbled to himself.

Canas sat in his room, poring over his notes. Up until now, he had only found one way to reverse a wish, but it involved whatever the wish had been made upon. Surely they couldn't go back to the caves and get the Wishblade now…and Serra had said that the glow had left when she used it, so that meant its magical energy was probably gone.

He propped his head up on one hand. "I know that there was a way to do this…" he mumbled. "What was it?" He shook his head. "Well, I'll never find it if I'm this tired…"

He stood up and began to put everything away.

Thus ends this segment. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm trying to put a little more humor in, now that the plot is firmly established. I don't know if Sain cheating on Fiora in a painfully obvious manner is "Romance", though...eh, well.

Valete!