The surroundings suddenly shifted back to the grand hall.
Lexel blinked as the familiar domain returned around him. The conversation with Layla, Nene, and Lulu had taken longer than he realized, and for a moment, he expected the others to still be awake, perhaps waiting impatiently for him to return.
Instead, the hall had fallen quiet.
Lexel looked around.
The rest of the party had simply fallen asleep wherever they had been sitting.
Cresty was slumped against one of the pillars, her arms loosely folded as her head rested against the stone. Anthierin had fallen asleep on her side near the edge of one of the platforms, her posture still carrying the stubbornness of someone who had clearly intended to stay awake but had simply lost the battle against exhaustion.
