"I never thought that little lizard would cause so much trouble. Please excuse me. I need to go add chameleon geckos to the list of forbidden creatures." Throm quickly hurried off. It would obviously be a tragedy should any more of his food and drink fall prey to any other invisible lizards.

"So? What do you think? How much did that thing dump in Robin's drink?" Christian asked.

"Hmm, considering its carrying capacity, I'd cap it at half a bottle at most. Any more than that, and that gecko wouldn't be able to lift, or hide it away." Keith said.

There was a small thought-filled silence before Christian once again opened his mouth.

"I am curious, though." Christian looked pointedly at Keith. "What happened to the voice records? Ekkins.h.i.+re's magic eyes might not have sound, but I'm pretty sure dwarven magic eyes do."

"Ah that? I asked about it, too. Ayva took them away, protecting Robin's secret." Keith replied. "It most likely has something to do with the Hero's past that he doesn't want us knowing about."

"Don't you give me that. I know that you can read lips." Christian snorted.

Keith rolled his eyes. "And? Do you think I'd dare to anger the Hero a second time? You remember what happened the first time I did that? I've learned my lesson. If you wish to know so badly, go ask him yourself when he wakes up."

The video played forward again, this time too quickly to catch what wad being said. When it got to the end, it turned off.

"And that's the end of my limited access..." Keith replied, standing up. "If you want to look through the records again, you'll have to ask King Throm or Queen Ayva." He began to head out the door.

"So you do know his secret. Otherwise, you wouldn't be trying to hide it." Christian said pointedly. Keith paused.

"Well, I would tell you, but unfortunately, Robin has a higher authority than you. Please don't hate me for following the law." Keith replied. "I may be just a stupid loser, but I don't want to lose a good friend over this."

Christian scanned Keith's expression, then sighed. "Fine. But at the very least, please try to get permission for me? When this hateful situation is all over, that is."

"You have my word." Keith bowed his head for a second before leaving the room.

Christian did the math in his head. A dwarven flagon held about 2 liters of drink. A full vial of Klargon's brew would make one sleep for five years. Given that half a vial of Klargun's brew was dumped inside, then the flagon altogether had a dose of about two and a half years, or thirty months. That's 15 months per liter. There was about half a liter remaining in the flagon when Robin fell.

So, a.s.suming the 1.5 liters was evenly distributed....Then the latest Robin would sleep was 11 months, plus a week, almost a whole year. a.s.suming that Bobble managed to get rid of at least half the potion, it would still be around half a year. Quinn's estimate was about right. But, that didn't make Christian any happier.

They had to wait half a year before Robin woke up? Seriously? But, there was nothing that could be done. Robin wouldn't awaken any time soon. Christian returned to Robin's room. Skye had curled up on the bed with Robin, seemingly waiting for her to wake up.

But, what no one had realized was that they were all wrong. They were forgetting about Robin's magic apt.i.tudes. Not only did she have a 50 percent nature apt.i.tude, which gave her poison resistance, she was blood contracted to Skye, who was fully resistant to many poisons.

Thus, the amount of time she'd sleep would be much much less.

In fact, Skye had also realized this. Except, Skye was too busy actively working towards expelling the poison through the blood contract to point it out to the others. There was actually a 36 hour window before the poison was fully integrated into the bloodstream. Skye was taking advantage of this window to slowly gather the miniscule bits of foreign matter to expel them.

In any case, only Elise would understand him and be able to speak, unless he was able to use magic link. But, that would take away too much of his attention, and effort. Once the window of opportunity was gone, they would truly have to wait.

And, where was Elise? She had chosen to remain behind, and slowly finish her chocolate. Robin had forgotten about her size, and left her three whole truffles. That was the equivalent of two of Elise placed together. It was no surprise, then, that she remained behind.

And while Robin slept, she dreamed.

--------

But this time was different. In this dream, she was herself, dressed up as Robin the Hero. But she was an invisible observer. She could see her younger self das.h.i.+ng through the hallways. But the grotesquely twisted images of her former friends/bullies couldn't see Robin the Hero.

Robin ignored the normal route, and immediately climbed up to the roof of the school building. But when she got there, she stopped in the doorway. An unfamiliar figure stood there, leaning up against the balcony.

"Huh. That's strangely new." The figure said as it turned to face her. His face was concealed in a hood; the darkness within, unbreachable. the only thing that could be seen was a slightly mocking smile.

"Hero Robin, is it? It is not often that others enter my dreams...Are you also here to be my judge?"

"You are?" Robin asked, cautiously.

"Oh? I'm surprised. You didn't forget your promise, did you?" The figure said.

"I'm quite sure that you and I have never met." Robin replied. "But, in order to be certain, why don't you put that hood down?"

"Heh. That is right, I suppose. We have never really met...in person." The figure leisurely leaned his back against the balcony. "But, I specifically remember a very interesting fellow getting enraged at me."

"If that was me, then you definitely deserved it. I don't get mad at good people." Robin replied evenly, walking onto the balcony.

"Mister Trader, I take it?" She asked.

"Heh. You catch on too quickly." The man smirked.

"I really haven't gotten angry at anyone else. So it had to be you." She shrugged.

"Aren't you going to try and cut me down?" the Trader asked.

Robin glanced over, speaking in a matter-of-fact tone. "And interrupt the show? Even I am not foolish enough to pioneer someone else's dream. Our battle can wait until afterwards."

Robin was actually quite surprised at how calm she felt right now. If it were real life, she would probably have challenged him right away. But, she was curious about why the Trader would be so familiar with her dream area, as if it were his own.

...

-----------

"So, what do we do now?" Sir Daniel asked. Christian frowned. They were all sitting or standing around Robin's bed.

"The way I see it, we have two options. Both have their perks and demerits, but I think it's best to place them on the table while we still had cards." He looked around the room.

"The first option is that we could all stay here and watch over Robin until he wakes up. The Perk is, we are all together in case something unexpected happens. The demerit is that we lose the amount of time we spend waiting."

"...And the second option?" Sir Dylan asked.

"We split up. Half the party stays to keep watch over Robin. Half the party goes to gather the jade seals." Keith spoke from the side.

Christian nodded. "The perks are that we save time by splitting up. The demerits are in that dividing the team will weaken the altogether strength of the group. What if we need water healing, and Chelsea isn't around? Or what if we need Jasmine's magical knowledge, and she's back here? This can be a somewhat dangerous solution."

"And what about the third option?" Jasmine asked.

"What third option?" Christian raised an eyebrow at Jasmine.

"We take Robin along, even if the poor dear is still asleep. That way, the party doesn't split up, and we can all protect Robin while the hero rests."

"We'd still need to split up when it comes to protecting Robin versus getting things done. And are you okay with leaving the hero's blade behind here in Ragnok?" Christian shook his head and pointed out.

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