Day 15 Interlude - Eriza

It was morning. There was no sunlight on the windowsill or rooster crying out in the backyard, but somehow my body could still tell. I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes. I was still tired. I was on night shift the day before, so I didn’t get much sleep, and some of the fatigue carried over even though I went bed earlier than usual. I had no idea how the others could keep up with the shifts, though again, they've been doing them way longer than I have.

I got out of my bed and tidied up while I reminisced. It had been almost four months. I was an apprentice in the Marvelar Brewery in Askala. My meister sent me along with a group of hirelings to scout out a new area in the local Abyss for new herbs and materials for potion making. While the Alchemist Association had a monopoly on the really high quality magical potions, ours were much cheaper and longer-lasting, but in exchange they required a constant supply of herbs, minerals, and tinctures.

I remember being cautious but eager to visit the Abyss for the first time. For the first five days, nothing happened. We moved thought the labyrinth, and I was actually a little disillusioned. And bored too. The mercenaries Meister Marvelar hired were not the brightest, and so we didn’t have much to talk about.

It was during the first "night" after we exited the labyrinth that things went wrong. One of the hirelings got bitten by a snake, and even though we had the antidote, it forced us to make camp until he could stand again. Then the spiders came. I learned from Master Raznok that we accidentally camped right on top of the route White Widows took when they raided the goblins for their… needs. It was all a freak coincidence, but one the hired men unfortunately didn’t live long enough to regret.

I paused for a moment and found myself shaking. I wasn’t close to them, but still, seeing them ambushed by a horde of giant spiders and eaten alive was something that still showed up in my nightmares from time to time. Worse yet, I could have shared the same fate if not for Lord Raznok passing by.

I couldn’t help but smile as I thought back on our first meeting. He was so big and scary looking, yet even back then, from the very first time I saw him, I was captivated by him, and I…

“Eriza! Wake up, there’s trouble!”

“Wha-wha-what?!”

My reminiscing was rudely interrupted by Sera, my senior. She was a the only other human in the mansion, and so we had a good relationship, but even so, barging into my room like that was unexpected.

“You're awake. Good. Listen, we are having an emergency assembly in ten minutes. Dress up and meet us in the dining hall.”

I tried to ask her what this was about, but by then, Sera was already gone. After the first shock settled, I quickly dressed myself and left the room as well. I wasn’t in a hurry, as the dining hall was just a stone throw’s away. The mansion of Lord Raznok was big, but it was not as outrageously large as some of the palaces I've seen as a child, when I was still traveling with my father. He was a famous apothecary in his days, and before we settled down in Askala, I've accompanied him to a lot of noble palaces when he was invited to sell his medicine.

But that was all beside the point. I reached the dining hall a little ahead of time and entered without knocking. By then, the rest of the girls were already there and sitting around the oval dining table. Taciturn Amaria, energetic Alvilia, and stern Sera. They were, in some ways, both my coworkers and my new family. I got along with all of them, though I was often reminded of being a latecomer.

“We're all here,” Amaria announced with a weary voice. Wasn’t she supposed to be on the night shift last night? Why was she here so early in the morning?

“Good,” Sera nodded at no one in particular and gestured for me to take a seat. I did so, and once she was sure we were all paying attention she began. “Since some of you just woke up, I'm going to give you a quick overview of the situation. Last night, sometime after dinner, Master Raznok entered the throne room in a hurry. According to Amaria, this happened after he received a message from the Sovereign.”

“The Sovereign?” I repeated after her in a sleepy voice.

“I believe so,” Amaria spoke with a nod.

“Afterwards, he came out of the throne room with a girl.”

“A girl?” I asked again. “What kind of girl?”

“Well…” Alvilia at my side raised her hand and began counting on her fingers. “She is short, and pretty, and has green skin, and she is very rude.”

“Yes,” Sera nodded gravely. “She dared to call Master Raznok ‘Razzie’ to his face! The impudent little…!”

“Calm down,” Amaria chided her while I turned to the imp girl.

“Really? And Lord Raznok let her?”

“Yes!” Alvilia answered irritably.

“But… It’s Lord Raznok! No one disrespects him like that!”

“Not only that!” Sera cut in with a scowl on her face, “Not only that, Master Raznok was running circles around her, trying to please her! He even let her use our bath!”

“Yeah, and I had to lend her one of my nightgowns! She took my favorite one!” Alvilia complained.

“Distressing,” Amaria added solemnly.

“But… why?”

The three of them exchanged meaningful glances before Sera answered, “To be honest, ever since Master Raznok took you in, we thought he might have a certain taste.”

“Taste?”

“Weeeell,” Alvilia scratched her own cheeks awkwardly before blurting out, “It’s because you are still a kid.”

“I'm not a kid!” I exclaimed reflexively, “I-I mean… I am just short!”

“No breasts,” Amaria noted.

“I have breasts, they are still growing!”

“That’s exactly our point,” Sera interrupted gravely. “The newcomer, this… What was her name?”

“Mafter,” Spoke Amaria again. She was speaking a lot, she must have been agitated.

“Yes, this ‘Mafter’ looks like a child. A very pretty child.”

“We think that she might be a new mistress.”

I involuntarily gulped.

“A mistress? But… aren’t we already…?”

“It is different.” Alvilia said, “You haven’t seen it yourself, but Lord Raznok was really, reeeeeally doing his best to please her. It was nothing like when he was talking to one of us.”

I tried to imagine a subservient Lord Raznok trying to cater to someone, but I couldn’t do it.

“So, we wanted to separate them so we could talk to Master Raznok. Unfortunately, our first attempt had already failed. Remember that sleeping drug you gave me a couple of days ago?”

“Yes. It’s for your insomnia, right?” I answered tentatively.

“Right, that. I put the entire bottle into her drink last night.”

“Wh-What?! That’s dangerous! It…!”

“It didn’t work,” Alvilia cut off my complaints with a tired sigh. “She drank it all, but she kept Lord Raznok in the library all night.”

“No effect whatsoever?” I inquired, feeling a little dejected. That particular batch of sleeping medicine turned out pretty well, and I was proud of being able to make it with the limited facilities at the mansion. I was disappointed for a moment, but then I considered the other variables. “What was her race again? You said she had a green skin. Was she an orc?”

“Nah, orcs have these big, weird pointy teeth, right?” Alvilia told me while making faces trying to emphasize her lower canines. “No, she looks like a human girl, except with green skin. No horns, no tail, no talons.”

“So she is not a lizardfolk either. Goblin, maybe?”

“Pretty goblin…” Amaria muttered, and then she let out a soft chuckle, sending chills down on all our spines. When she was getting that expressive, it meant she was getting really, really agitated.

“A-Anyway, it doesn’t matter. If she walks on two legs and talks, most of my medicines should work on her.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” Sera spoke up with a wolfish grin. “I want you to get all your bottles! Sleeping medicine, pooping medicine, I don’t care, bring them all here! We're going to show her we're not going to let her wrap Master Raznok around her little finger without a fight!”

“That’s right!” Alvilia agreed, and before I knew it, I was swept up in the moment as well.

~~~

It was just a little before noon when the kitchen door opened and Sera and Alvilia walked in.

“Results?” Amaria asked expectantly while still helping me with the cookware.

“Total failure,” Sera slumped onto the chair in the corner and let out a tired groan.

“No effect?” I asked back while whipping the batter in the bowl in my hand. “Nothing?”

“Absolutely nothing. I put the entire bottle into the tea, and it still didn’t work,” She paused for a moment and suddenly her hands balled into fist on her skirt, crumpling up the fabric in the process. “And that little wench! The nerve!”

“What happened?” came the question from Amaria.

“You had to see it to believe it!” Alvilia spoke with a difficult expression. “All it took was a single glance from her to get Lord Raznok to send us away.”

“The infuriating little bitch!” Sera suddenly burst out and hit the table with her fist. “We have to teach her a lesson! Eriza, what else do you have?”

“I-I have some botched up medicines over here. They are not dangerous, but this one causes rashes, and this one is a laxative much stronger than the one we used the first time, and this one is…”

“Good. Put all of them in there!”

I was so surprised I forgot to stir the batter for a moment.

“You mean… all of them?”

“Yes, I just said that!”

“But… But using all of them at the same time… And I don’t even know the correct dosage, it could be dangerous, and…” Before I could express myself, Alvilia sneaked up behind me and emptied one of the bottles into my bowl. “Eeeeeh!? Why did you put all of it in?! That much gribova-extract would give a horse the runs for a week!”

“Perfect!” Alvilia grinned while reaching for another bottle. “Maybe she will shit herself in front of Lord Raznok!”

“Hilarious,” Amaria agreed while picking up a bottle of her own.

“Good riddance! Come on, let’s get cooking!” Saying so, Sera grabbed hold of two more bottles and they all closed in on me and my bowl.

“W-Wait! You cannot mix those! Aaaah! Don’t put the cenara pear bark in there, it makes it bitter! Stooop!”

~~~

I sneaked out of the kitchen and followed after Amaria and Alvilia when they delivered the freshly baked biscuits. It was a challenge to make them, and since I couldn’t taste-test them, I wasn’t even sure they were edible. In some ways, I hoped they weren’t. After all the medicines the others threw in the dough, I wasn’t sure it wasn’t outright poisonous.

I hid myself behind the corner of the veranda and observed the guest. This was the first time I saw her in person, and I was shocked by the sight. Saying that she was pretty might've been an understatement. She was beautiful. Her face in particular looked like it was carved from fine jade stone by a master sculptor, a kind of perfection in balance and symmetry that I've never seen on an actually living, breathing person before. She also had a mysterious air about her. It was similar to Lord Raznok’s, an aura of power, but hers was more… refined? I didn’t know the right word, but looking at her made me feel she was not a normal existence.

At last Lord Raznok, Amaria and Alvilia left, leaving the guest all alone. To my surprise, she didn’t seem to mind. She didn’t eat any of the biscuits either, so I continued to observe her. To my further surprise, after a while she began to wave his fingers through the air in front of herself. At first I was baffled, but then I remembered that Lord Raznok often did the same when he told me about the Divine Administration and the management of the dungeon. Maybe she was the same? But then… was she maybe another floor master? I've never met any of them, so I couldn’t know for sure, but it would've explained why Lord Raznok was treating her so well.

After a few minutes of waving through the air, the guest finally reached for the tray on the table. I couldn’t help but hold my breath in anticipation, but then her hand twitched and she glanced right at me. I panicked and hid behind the corner, hoping against all odds that she didn’t actually see me, but…

“Please come out. It’s rude to spy on people eating.”

I shuddered for a moment. I gulped and steeled my nerves before I cautiously walked into the open. She looked at me expectantly while rolling a biscuit between her fingers and gestured for me to go over. Against my better judgment, I obeyed.

“Would you care to sit down?” she asked me in a calm, friendly voice that only made me even more nervous. Even her voice was pretty. There was something really uncanny about how perfect she was, but I couldn’t put my finger on what made me think so.

Still, I had to give an answer, so I muttered, “I… I’m on duty.”

She nodded and pointed at the chair again.

“Isn’t it the duty of the maid to entertain the guests while the lord of the house is away?”

“I… wouldn’t know,” I answered hesitantly, put off by the unexpected situation.

At last she grimaced and pointed at the chair again, this time with a hint of veiled thread.

“Just sit down, okay? It is awfully boring to sit here all alone.”

“Yes!” I answered reflexively and sat down, my body almost acting on its own accord. She looked me over like a fishermen would size up a freshly caught carp and gave me a tight-lipped smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“Is there something wrong?”

“N-Nothing! It’s just that… uuum…" There was a silent pressure in her words, and I couldn’t help but glance at the pastry between her fingers and mutter; “…you might, maybe, shouldn’t eat that biscuit.”

“Really? Why?”

“It’s… uuum… It might not be very good?”

“Oh, really?” She raised it to her eyes and observed it for a few seconds, thought it felt like an eternity to me. “Hmmm… I see nothing wrong with it.” Just then, without any warning, she suddenly popped the biscuit into her mouth. I didn’t even have the opportunity to protest! However, before I could utter a single word, she let out a sight and told to me, “Laxative again? How boorish.”

It felt like time came to a standstill.

“You… knew?”

“Of course I knew,” she answered like I just asked a stupid question as she wolfed down another biscuit. “Mm. These are actually pretty good, poison notwithstanding. Did you make them?”

“Y-Yes. B-But it’s not poison! It’s medicine! It’s just… uuu…”

“Yeah, I figured,” she answered with a knowing smile. “You're a herbalist, right Eriza?”

“I worked with herbs but…”

My mouth ran ahead of my mind, but when I actually realized she just called me by name, I could once again feel my stomach contract with unease.

“Is there a problem?”

“It’s just…” I paused to take a deep breath and tried to suppress the fear in my gut. “I don’t remember introducing myself, so I was a little surprised you knew my name.”

“Ah, I know a lot of things. For example, I know that you are the smartest person in this mansion. Except for me, of course. Which makes me wonder; just what makes a clever girl like you try to poison me?”

“I-It wasn’t poison!” I insisted, though a part of me knew the resistance was futile. She knew. She probably knew it all, and while she might have looked like a girl younger than me, she was obviously something much greater and more dangerous… Yet, maybe because I felt like I was already doomed, I continued grasping from any straw I could get my hands on. “It was medicine.”

“Well, I grant you that, none of the things inside the food and drinks were dangerous. Laxatives, sleeping drugs… oh, and there was that one that was supposed to give me rashes. How was that a medicine again?”

She knew those effects, I realized. So maybe… maybe I could change the subject? I collected my thoughts and told her, “It was an extract from the root of the yellowcap reed. When prepared correctly, it is a potent painkiller, but if it is boiled, it gives people rashes instead.” I rambled, but I could once again feel her gaze making me feel naked, so in a burst of panic I added, “B-But it was just an innocent prank, I swear!”

Argh! I was so stupid! Like saying it was a prank would make it any better! However, she continued feigning interest and spoke in the same tone as before, hiding her anger so well it was a little disturbing.

“I believe you, but you still didn’t answer my original question: why would a smart girl like you do that?”

“Uuuu…” This time I hesitated only a second. Maybe it was because I was already worn down by her relentless gaze, but I told her the truth without even really thinking things through. “It’s because the others asked me to.”

“So it was a group effort, just as I thought. Why though?”

“We were… I-I mean, they were jealous.”

“Jealous?” She repeated after me, and for the first time I could feel that she was surprised. “Jealous about what?”

“Uu… They… They think that you're the new mistress of Lord Raznok.”

She gave me a long, hard look, like she just heard something absurd, but then she put down her teacup and suddenly let out a belly-laugh unbefitting of her appearance. For a couple of seconds, I could only stare at her in bewilderment as she laughed heartily, trying to decide whether that was a good or bad sign.

“Aha… Ahaha… Whew… Sorry for that. I haven’t had a good laugh like that in ages.” She glanced at me and her smile withered. “Oh, right. You probably don’t get why I was laughing. Anyways, I'm surprised Razzie didn’t tell you about it yet, but I am definitely not in that kind of relationship with him.”

I could barely stifle a relieved sight. If a person like her was really trying to become Lord Raznok’s mistress, the rest of us would pale in comparison. Still, I had to reaffirm it, just to be perfectly sure.

“You're not?”

“No. I'm the newly appointed Area Guardian of 1-B.”

“1-B? The area of Old Widow?”

“Oh? So you know about these things.”

I wanted to slap myself and my big mouth. Beforehand, she seemed dismissive of me, but now… now she looked at me with interest, and I felt like a mouse staring a cat in the face. For a moment I considered lying, but her knowing eyes gave me the impression that she already knew the answer and was testing me. As such I took a deep breath and answered, “Lord Raznok sometimes talked about his duties to me, yes.”

“That makes things easier.” She smiled at me, and it sent shivers down my spine. “You see, I accidentally blew up the big spider, so the dungeon master told me to replace her for the time being. I was sent here so that Razzie could explain to me the basics of being an Area Guardian.”

“Oh, I see now.” I answered in a daze before my mind actually processed her words, but then the shivers on my spine turned into an icicle penetrating my guts. “W-Wait! You mean, you killed the Old Widow?”

“Yes.”

“But… The Old Widow was the strongest Area Guardian on the first floor! And she lived in the middle of the Cocoon Forest, surrounded by White Widows!”

“Yeah, I kind of blew half the forest up too. I was told I have to fix that up as well, thought I just realized it was in another Area Guardian’s domain. I'll figure something out.”

“But… How could you… I mean…”

I had no words to express my disbelief. No, disbelief was not the right word. The impression she gave me told me that she was someone who could actually do that. The sense of power she had about her, her demeanor, the absolute confidence with which he carried herself even as she was toying with me; they all pointed at her being an incredibly powerful individual.

“Well, I had a little help to be honest, and…” She paused for a moment and glanced up and to the right, and to my surprise, I could see a hint of genuine smile on her face. “Oh, speak of the devil.”

“Devil? Where?”

I saw nothing, but she reached out her hand and acted like she just stroked the back of some invisible flying beast. At last she noticed my confusion and gestured towards the air besides her.

“Oh, right. You cannot see Little Flame. Remember how I told you I had some help when I blew up the big spider? It was Little Flame right here.”

“I still cannot see anything.”

“Hmmm… Maybe if I do this…” The moment she said so, there was a sudden, leaden pressure in the air, like I was abruptly plunged into deep water with a chain and ball tied around my waist. I could feel sweat bursting from my skin like tiny pin-pricks around my entire body and my stomach was churning to the point I felt like I was about to throw up.

Then it appeared. I've never seen anything like it before. It looked like a burning serpent with wings, but at the same time it felt like I was staring into the sun itself. That pressure, that might… there was only one thing I could think of.

“E-E-ELEMENTAL?!” I could hear myself scream out, but even as I did so, my survival instincts took control of my legs and I involuntarily jumped to my feet. Just then there was a sharp tugging sensation at my waist, and before I knew it the floor closed in on my face as I stumbled and fell. “Oooow!”

“… Are you all right?” The guest asked incredulously while I writhed on the floor.

“N-No I am not all…” I looked up and my eyes met with the Elemental’s. It was perched on her shoulders like some kind of pet and they were both looking at me like I was the weird one! “Y-Y-You have an Elemental on your shoulder!” I stated the obvious, as that was all I could manage.

“Really?” She glanced to the creature sitting on her and stroked its fiery head like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You hear that, Little Flame? We finally figured out what you are.” The Elemental made a series of noises that reminded me of a cat’s purring with a chick’s chirping on top. “Anyways, your nose is bleeding. Stand still.”

I blinked in surprise and raised a hand to my nose. Just as she said, my fingers came away with blotches of red on them.

“I-I’m sorry! I have a handkerchief here somewhere and…”

“Why are you apologizing?” she asked me with a confused but stern expression before she grabbed hold of my arm and moved it out of the way. Her hand… it was really soft, but strong. At least as strong as Lord Raznok, in such a tiny frame. At this point though, I was no longer surprised by anything. “Stand still.”

I was still shivering a little, but I obeyed. She extended her right hand, her palm hovering just a little over my nose. At first I was confused. Did she want to set my nose? It was bleeding, yes, but it wasn’t broken. Or, at least I thought it wasn’t. However, instead of touching my face, the palm in front of me began to glow with a soft golden light. A second later there was a pleasant warmth spreading through me that not only washed away all the pain, it left me feeling invigorated, like I just woke up from a full night’s sleep.

“There. Now you can wipe the blood.”

I tentatively wiped my nose and, just as she said, the bleeding had already stopped.

“You can… use healing magic?”

“To a degree, yes,” she answered with what I could only considered fake modesty as she offered me a hand and helped me to my feet. Only the most powerful high-priests and priestesses of the Great Gods could use healing magic without incantations, so at least that gave me a clue to her identity. “But more importantly, what can you tell me about "Elementals"?”

“E-Elementals? A-auu… I… I've only heard stories. Lord Raznok could tell you more, I think. I'm just…”

“Good enough,” she told me with a smile that I couldn’t find reassuring after seeing what she could do. “In that case I'll talk to him. Lead the way.”

“B-B-But the night shift is…”

“There are more important things than that, right?”

“Uuu… I… I understand…”

“Good,” She nodded with a smile and urged me to move. “And while we are on the way, how about you tell me about those stories?”

After a lot of hesitation I finally resolved myself to start walking, and while I noticed a small change in the guest’s behavior. She was acting friendlier than before, yet the Elemental on her shoulder, and the bad premonition I was having, didn’t allow me to let my guard down even as I tried to summarize what I knew while showing her the way. For the first time, Lord Raznok’s mansion felt too large, and the distance to the bedchamber way too long…

~~~

The atmosphere in the throne room was so heavy, it was nearly suffocating. Lord Raznok was sitting on the throne, his face inscrutable yet weary, and the rest of us were standing in front of him in a single line, silent. This went on for nearly five minutes after the guest left the dining hall and returned to the guest room to prepare for her departure the next day. At last, Lord Raznok looked up at us and spoke, his deep, commanding voice unusually subdued and small in the large room.

“Have you heard her plans?” he asked us, and we all shook our heads. After she summoned her Elemental just to scare us away, a preposterous statement by itself, we were out of earshot and could only hear fragments of the conversation.

Lord Raznok fell silent for a few seconds, and for the time being, the only sounds in the room were our breathing and the quiet popping of the flames in the braziers around the throne. At last, he sat up straight and spoke up, his voice regaining some of its usual strength.

“Her plans are… ambitious, and if they succeed, they might indeed earn her a lot of Credits, and through her, we will earn as well. However, it is also risky. Foolhardy, even.” He paused, looking each of us in the eye in turn before he continued. “She plans on creating a prison camp.”

“A… prison camp?” Sera muttered, her face dyed white.

“Yes. While she was using euphemisms and weasel words to say it, her intent was clear. She wants to capture the upworlders who come to the dungeon and imprison them so that they would earn her Lux over a long time. She even plans on creating something like a human farm where she could breed the upworlders so that she would have a constant supply of children to replace them.”

I… honestly had a hard time believing Lord Raznok’s words. Our guest, Mafter, was powerful and mysterious for sure, but she never struck me as ruthless. But then again, she was really eccentric, and I had no reason to think Lord Raznok would make something like this up.

“Can it work?” Amaria broke the momentary silence with the question on all our minds.

“On the short term? Sure. You see, she might be able to earn a lot of Lux, but if she isn’t careful, it will be extremely risky. If upworlders keep disappearing in the Abyss, then they might send more of them looking for the missing ones. Then, if those missing ones don’t return either, they might send down a subjugation force. Now you see, she might be able to deal with that; she uses the an Elemental to heat her soup, for the gods’ sake!” Lord Raznok paused, like he just recalled a traumatic experience, and then continued, “But even if she would be fine, there would be a lot of collateral damage. The entire first floor might get wrecked, and if the subjugation force gets defeated, they might just call in the army. The second and third floors don’t have to worry about this, but the first floor just cannot deal with an entire army marching into the Abyss! The entire system of eeko would get messed up, and it would take decades to undo the damage!”

“That’s baaaad…” Alvilia muttered at my side.

“However, that is my problem, not something you have to worry about,” he told us with a stern expression. “You see, the reason why I called you here is because she made a request I cannot, in any good sense, refuse.” I could feel the knot in my stomach growing by the second as Lord Raznok kept looking at me. At last he exhaled and said, “Eriza, she asked me to… lend you to her.”

“What?” Sera suddenly exclaimed in a high pitched voice. “Master, you can’t seriously…!”

“I made my decision,” Lord Raznok stated forcefully, and his words hit us like an ocean wave. He stood up and walked up to me. “Eriza.”

“Y-Y-Yes, my Lord?”

“Right now I'm not in a position to refuse her request. However, I want you to know that I will contact Master Shorkuz as soon as he returns from the Sabbat of the Underworld, and figure something out. Until then I want you to stay by Mafter’s side, observe her every move, and follow her orders to the letter until I can get my contacts on the Overworld to get me some herbalists, brewers, and alchemist to replace you. I need you to be strong until then.”

I gulped loudly. I was afraid, no, I was terrified, but if my Lord asked me like this, I could never refuse.

“Y-Yes, Lord Raznok. I will do as you ask.”

“Good,” He told me, and then he placed a hand on my hip and drew me into his chest. I was surprised and involuntarily let out a weird sound that made him chuckle. “You are setting out at noon tomorrow. Until then, I will love you to make up for time lost in the future.”

“L-Lord Raznok… Eh?” Before I knew it there was another pair of hands grabbing my butt. I glanced back, only to find Alvilia grinning at me. “Wha-what are you doing?”

“Well, normally I'd be mad that this messes up the night shift again, but considering the circumstances, I let it slide.” She glanced up at Lord Raznok and innocently asked, “May I join?”

“Sure,” He reaffirmed as they both squeezed in unison, and before I knew it, I was encased in the middle of four hot bodies. The night was painfully short, and I couldn’t remember every little detail afterwards, but it was something I knew I would never forget for the rest of my life.