I’m pretty sure there was a party.

I say pretty sure because someone broke out the Barista Brew - probably Copperpot - and I got blitzed and then drunk on Liquid Gold.

I must have drunk a lot, because while I find the Liquid Gold tolerable, it’s still a bit low on the ABV side. And while I could play around with sugar adjuncts and dry malt extracts to increase alcohol content, I was still doing my ‘slow but steady’ schtick.

Which was why I was now seated in an absolutely trashed Thirsty Goat Pub drinking some of Bran’s hangover caudle special - this time made with Barista Brew. Everyone else was still either unconscious in the brewroom, stashed in an alley somewhere between here and the arena, or in a tangle of limbs in a bed somewhere.

I distinctly remembered kissing Emerelda at some point. Her bright red beard had been done up in curls much like Annie favoured, and her green eyes had been bewitching…

I touched my finger to my lips, I hadn't kissed anyone but Caroline in a long time. Caroline always tasted like her favourite mint toothpaste. Emerelda had tasted like beer. I groaned as a sharp pain ran between my temples.

“You doin’ alright, Pete?”

Bran puttered over and examined me. Then he thwacked me on the back. “Looks like you’ve finally joined the ranks of the best of the best!”

I moaned again, then replied, “just the best of Minnova so far.”

“You’ll do well in Kinshasa too! Or I’m a gnomish uncle!”

I perked up at that. That’s right, we were headed to Kinshasa! “That sounds capital! Eh? Eh?”

Bran frowned. “Aye, that’s the name of tha capital.”

I deflated. “Sigh. What about you Bran, have you decided about what you’re going to do?”

Bran looked hedgier than a gated community, by which I guessed the answer was no.

“I’m still thinkin’ Pete. I’ll be comin’ with no matter what, but…”

“Hmmm, what if I had a way to help you decide?”

Bran brushed off his apron and sat down beside me. He pulled up another mug of caudle and drank before raising an eyebrow.

“It’s a bit hard to explain. I got a new Ability." I began.

“Ah, a Milestone for winnin’ the contest? I didn’t get anything.” Bran frowned even harder than usual. “Doesn’t seem fair.”

“No, well, not really. Anyways, I think it’ll interest you as soon as I get it working right.”

“What’s it do?”

I pulled up the Ability I’d received upon winning the competition and read it over.

[Pete’s Miniature Remembrance] - As an Otherworlder, you have memories of things and places that have never existed. Homesickness can be just as bad as any illness, and this Ability will help to assuage that pain. Allows you to create a miniature object made primarily of Matter. The object must be a previous Possession of great personal significance to you, and one that you have intimate knowledge of. Once summoned, the object will last for an hour.

This ability can be used once an hour.