“Not all failures to adhere to a planned schedule is a bad thing.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Apologies for the delay, Miss deVreys,” said Roland – who had been deputized to take care of Aideen’s arrangements until she left by both his sister and parents – with an apologetic bow of his head. “We had not expected that the ship we planned to book met with misfortune and would be in repairs for another month at the least.”

“The seas are a harsh mistress,” replied Aideen with a nod. She had not traveled by ship at sea that often – few enough times that she could count the occurrences on the fingers of both hands, despite her long life – but she knew enough from those that the sea was unpredictable. Losses and delays happened, despite one’s planning, often simply due to plain bad luck. “Shit happens, Roland, no need to worry about it.”

“Thank you for your understanding. If it pleases you, I have booked rooms for your perusal at the Grimy Anchor, while I will make arrangements for a replacement ship that will sail the same routes,” said Roland with a grateful nod. “Maybe until then you would like to take a look around the city? It is to my knowledge that it has been a while since your last visit here.”

“A good suggestion,” said Aideen as she recalled the last time she stepped foot on Meergant, nearly a whole century ago, when she first landed on Alcidea. Her eyes took a look at the city, which looked nostalgically similar, but also changed after the years she had been away. “We’ll see you at the inn later, then. Thank you for the trouble, Rollie.”

“You’ve been here before?” asked Celia with some curiosity after they separated from Rollie. The younger unliving woman reminded Aideen a lot of how she must have looked to others back when she first arrived, like a tourist who came to town for the first time. Having never been to such a large port city – the ones in the other nations were smaller in scale as Meergant was the most prosperous and largest port in Alcidea of the day – she was gawking at the sights every now and then.

“Around a century ago,” replied Aideen with a slightly wistful smile. Her steps took her through some roads and alleys she still recognized, certain signs and landmarks having remained unchanged through the past century, down into the middle-class area of the city where most residents lived. It was a path she walked many times before. “I’m looking to see if an old… friend is still in the city or not.”

“Oh! I see… Would I be a bother? Should I go take a look on my own?” asked Celia with some worry and nervousness.

“Hah! Perish the thought, girl. You’re free to come along or take a look on your own, up to you, of course,” replied Aideen with a chuckle. She did feel that Celia had been a bit too dependent on her, but that was something that could wait until they reached Ptolodecca to handle.

“I’ll… come along then, if you don’t mind, Miss Aideen,” replied Celia with a nod after a moment of thought.

“Come along, then. We’re near,” said Aideen.

Aideen walked down some alleyways that brought some memories to her. She passed by the inn she stayed in during her first visit to Meergant – and Alcidea, for that matter –, then walked a couple city blocks further until the nostalgic sound of rhythmic hammering came to her ears. Sure enough, a small smithy was still where she remembered it to be, where a quartet of short, broad figures were busy working by the heat of the forge.

The broadest – and shortest – of those figures were an old dwarf, one who looked about as old as Ginnie was, while the other three were taller and slightly less broad, though they shared the same characteristics with the old dwarf. Two of the three taller ones were notably young, likely nowhere near their first century yet, which meant they were at best teenagers for half-dwarves like them.

It was the last of the taller figures that sparked a glint in Aideen’s memory. Otto looked visibly older now, as a century had passed since they last met, and had changed from a youth to an early middle-aged man. He no longer looked as bookish as he used to be when they were together, and instead sported muscles that matched his father, clearly the fruits of many hours of laboring in the smithy.

“Messenbrandt Smithy at your service, ma’am, what can we be of help with?” greeted one of the youngsters who noticed Aideen and Celia’s arrival before the others did. Before Aideen could answer or the youngster could continue his sales pitch, though, Otto shoved him aside and walked forward, his look a surprised and slightly mesmerized one.

“Aideen?” he asked, his voice full of disbelief, as if he thought he was dreaming and did not want to wake up.

“Long time no see, Otto, Mister Messenbrandt,” said Aideen with a polite wave of her hand at Otto and his father. By then the remaining youngster and the old dwarf had also finished what they were doing and came to greet the guest. The youngsters gave questioning looks, but the old dwarf similarly bloomed into a smile as he recognized Aideen. “It’s been a while. How have you all been these years?”

“It’s a bit of a long story,” replied Otto with a gentle smile. He quickly moved towards the side and cleaned his ash-covered hands in a trowel of water meant for that purpose and hung the dirty smith’s apron he wore on one side. His father also seemed to understand his gesture and ordered the two young ones to do the same. “What about we speak more inside? The smithy ain’t the best place to have a conversation with. Oh, who is the young lady, by the way?”

“Sure, and this is Celia, she’s my apprentice of sorts,” replied Aideen. She and Celia walked into the house attached to the smithy’s back under Otto’s lead while the other three closed up the smithy for the day, shutting the door and flipping a sign that said “closed” for additional clarity. Then they also followed into the house after they cleaned themselves.