The graveyards of Terra Et Nubila seemed to covered by a constant fog. Mist bit at everyone who was there to visit the dead, seeming to sense that it was not their time yet. The fog tried to push away the living, not understanding that people wanted to mourn their dead. This was one of the reasons that Bellona almost never went to funerals, despite the fact that she had been closed to a lot of people who had died recently. The fog would invade her senses and make her even more aware of the fact that she had just lost someone, despite the fact that it was obviously trying to get her out of there, away from the land of the dead.

But this funeral was one that was just too good for her to pass up. Ajax Fortis was an old foe of hers, and one of the most annoying warlords in all of the land. There were a lot of people that seemed to love him here though, because there were at least a couple hundred people there. Bellona watched as people cried and rolled her eyes. Part of her wondered if any of these people remembered the time that he threw a fit and lit a hospital on fire because they hadn't paid the taxes that he had illegally imposed on all of the buildings in the lower city.

She decided that she wasn't going to mention it right now. Not when so many people were trying to mourn this man. She would give them that. But she couldn't help but feel a little bit of satisfaction as she waited for the pallbearers to lower him in there. This was going to mark a new chapter in her life, the last person that had betrayed her was dead. She could do whatever she want now.

For some reason, that kind of scared Bellona. She tried her best to think of it as a positive, but as she thought about it, the uncertainty did make her feel a little bit on edge. "Thank you, for coming. We will now have speeches in honor of the deceased," This was mainly the part that she wanted to see. She was petty like that and wanted to see what the people who worked for him and even loved him would say to justify the fact that he often tried to destroy everything that he touched.

...*...

The smell of the sea mixed with pine wood, making the air fresher under the moonlit sky. Callisto walked the edge of the pier, trying her best to clear her mind as she thought about everything that had happened lately. She used to be the Royal Court summoner. Just an hour and a half ago, she had a job and a home and she was happy.

Now she outside the kingdom, cold and tired and hungry.

The way that life could go awry so fast left her in awe. She sighed, staring up at the sky. "You know," She called up to the sky, "if this is some kind of test, it's fucking cruel." She had never been one to curse the gods but she was mad, and if the gods wanted to curse her, at least they could take her out of her misery faster.

Nothing happened except a cold gust of wind pushing her lightly, as if the gods were acknowledging the fact that they had done something to make her suffer and while they didn't appreciate the fact that she said that, they weren't going to punish her further.

She hated this.

Callisto dipped her toes in moonwater. She sighed, thinking about all of the things that she could do with the fact that she wasn't employed anymore. She could travel. She could find new work in a place where people appreciated her a lot more. These were the positives. The uncertainty was going to get to her though. She could feel it starting to come on. The shaking, the anxiety, the hunger in her stomach.

It was something that she had dealt with before. She used to be homeless before she had gotten this job, and she was homeless before.

She wanted nothing more than to put that experience behind her, but she had a feeling that she would never get to do that. She stared down at the silvery water at her feet, thinking about how she could just plunge into it's deep depths and this would all be over.

There was something stopping her from doing that, though. Perhaps it was stupid of her, but she had hope that her situation would change. She wanted so desperately for that to be true. She would do anything to make it so. "You need to get up," She muttered to herself. It took a minute, but she actually pushed herself up and dusted herself off. She would keep moving.

...* ...

Bellona left before the end of the funeral. She was bored and could use a drink after all the terrible speeches that made Ajax seem like a more likeable guy than he actually was. She walked along the cobbled streets, torchlight cut through the fog.

She could smell some sort of meat cooking not far off. She headed towards that, her stomach suddenly grumbling. She realized that it had been such a long time since she had actually gotten something to eat. She ended up at a tavern called 'Foxclaw'. Bellona listened to the jovial din of a lot of merry drunkards and barmaids fixing drinks and food. This was definitely the type of place that she wanted to go, and badly.

She pressed on the door and let herself inside. She found an empty table and sat down and made herself comfortable, waiting for a barmaid to come up to her and ask her what she wanted. Turned out that she did not have to wait long for that to happen.

Almost instantaneously, a perky young blonde girl popped up next to her table. "Hello," She was practically grinning. Bellona wanted to ask her if her happiness was contagious, because it almost looked like it was hurting her. She kept that to herself. "Welcome to the Foxclaw, have you been here before? Do you need a menu or do you already know what you want to eat?"

"I'll just take some mead and whatever your special is,"

"Okay," The blonde smiled, "coming right up." She left and Bellona was glad that this was usually the extent of social activity she had with people. She wasn't sure that she could take any more of that type of stuff.