Cirice pulls Ulrich into her arms with a surprising amount of strength and just cries into his shoulder for a bit, getting her sadness and wailing out of her system. Other patrons of the tavern look at them like they’re freaks but she doesn’t care, a friend’s comfort is what she needs right now.



“U-Ulrich…” She stutters as she starts to calm down, “w-why d-do you think he-he left? Was I not good enough? Did I not do enough for him?”

Her strength surprised him with how sudden she pulled him in for an embrace. He hesitantly, and quite awkwardly, brought his hands up to hug her back as she cried into his shoulder. One of his hands was patting her on the back comfortingly.

He took a quick look around the room to the other patrons; their faces riddled with annoyed looks as they stared.

Ulrich's lips tightened thinking about her question and how best to navigate it. It was, after all, both his and Alvis' doing that enabled the Fairy to escape Cirice's grasp.

"I-I don't think that it's not that you're good enough, Cirice. Your intentions were good, but I don't think it's what Hylltywyll needed. He seemed more than capable of taking care of himself out there." He slowly coaxes her to her feet, "And that spell; I remember it from when we met before. If he wanted to stay with you then you wouldn't have needed to cast that on him, right?"

He was trying to navigate this whole with the utmost care, but it has been a long time since he's had to be this careful with his words like this. He leads her back to the pie covered table and sits her back down in her chair. He pulls up his chair nearer to her and places his hand on her shoulder; a warm, comforting smile etched on his face.

"And it's not that you didn't do enough for him. Like I said before, it was all good intentions, but at some point it can become too much. It could be considered a bit smothering to some, Cirice."

Alvis floats down to the table; propping himself up in front of the two of them.

"Maybe it would be best next time to just forget about that spell, and just let the situation sort itself out. We know you meant well, Darling, but that spell... it might not have been the greatest thing to be doing. Hyl seemed as if he might've been a bit scared by it."

Ulrich had been wiping away the bits of pie that were still there, "And we're not telling you not to use that spell, Cirice. It does come in handy for sure. We just want you to understand that it's not acceptable to use that spell in that way."

“But-but…” Cirice tries to get herself together. Its hard, as deeply as she wept and she follows Ulrich like a little lost kitten, “U-Ulrich he was a child… He was hurt when I found him and he needed to be handled with care, that-that’s why I used the spell… So I could get him under control and help him be safe…”

“I-I didn’t want to smother him,” she croaks, “I just wanted to give him a home…”

“The spell is just supposed to make people happy… I just wanted him to be happy… W-Whats wrong with that?”

A warm smile crept through the sadness he wore on his face; a subtle nod is given to the poor girl as he feels her pain.

"I know, Cirice. I know you wanted to help him, and admire that, but you didn't need to use the spell to force him. In situations like this it's better to do it the hard way rather than taking the easy way. In this case, the hard way would've been without the spell, and the easy way was using it."

He squeezes her shoulder gently.

"The easy way isn't always the best way or the right way. In most cases it's not ever the right way, Cirice."

Alvis stayed silent as Ulrich spoke to her; attempting to instill whatever wisdom he could in Cirice.

"Everyone is different. Some want as much love as they can get, some want a little of it, and some want nothing to do with it. But there are times when even the ones who want all of it would consider it too much. I know you wanted to give him a home, but maybe we should consider that Hyl didn't want that. Maybe he was perfectly comfortable making a home for himself somewhere or maybe even finding his way back to where he was before?"

Ulrich and Alvis look at each other; his eyes never leave the dagger and his hand now gently patting her shoulder.

"There's nothing wrong with wanting him to be happy at all, Cirice, but happiness is something that comes from the heart. It comes from you. You're happy because you choose to be happy; the choice comes from you." He turns his head to look at Cirice again, "The spell does indeed cause people to feel happy, but was it their choice to be or was it yours? You will come to learn, just like what happened today, that some will reject it, and that's okay. It is their choice after all, and you must respect that choice."

He gives her another warm smile.

"You don't need to use the spell to make people happy like that. You're perfectly capable of doing that on your own without it, Cirice; You just have to be patient with it."

Cirice sniffles, listening to Ulrich’s words and nodding along sadly. She did take Hyl’s choice away, maybe that wasn’t for the best…

“I-I guess you’re right…” She leans her head against him, “Thanks Ulrich… Alvis… I’m glad you’re my friends and you like me at least.”

She wipes her nose on her remaining glove and sighs, “I guess not everyone wants to be happy… I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want to be, but… I guess I have to let them be… I’ll be better. Thanks for the advice. Love you.”

"We love you too, Darling," Alvis speaks up finally after having let Ulrich impart wisdom upon Cirice.

Ulrich's warm smile is still on his face as he gives her a nod in agreement with the floating dagger.

The other patrons in the tavern had stopped paying attention to them; focusing on what they had been doing prior to all the commotion.

Nightfall was fast approaching, and it had been quite some time since Ulrich slept in a warm bed after a long day.

"How's about we all get cleaned up and ready for the night," Alvis suggested; floating up to meet the two at eye level.

"I quite agree. I'd like to have a bath and hit the hay. I think it would do us all good to get some much needed rest now."