"Cheers!"

I took a swig of beer as I clinked my mug against the others', before setting the mug down as I leaned back in my seat.

It was around 9 PM, and I was at a bar with the other X-Aces. The Union had helped make sure we wouldn't be bothered, and reserved the place for us for the night.

Aria and I had arrived a few minutes ago, after I spent about half an hour trying to wake her up. The others got here a few minutes before we did.

"Mm, nothing like a good drink after a long day," Grinned Iseul, as she chugged down about half her beer and set the mug down with a thud.

"Sure, unless you spent most of the day drunk to begin with," Responded Jin dryly.

"Heh, yeah, sorry about the delays I caused. I don't have the best self-control with booze," She admitted sheepishly.

Yeah, safe to say we all noticed.

"Do you mind if I ask you why you drink so much? Not to judge you or anything, but it's kinda a lot," Remarked Aria with a wry smile.

"Oh, I don't mind. Well, I haven't really put much thought into it, so I couldn't say for sure, but it's probably because I started drinking way too young.

I had a rough time growing up, my mother didn't give a shit about me and my father was an abusive, raging alcoholic, he beat me all the time.

Even as a kid, I figured the alcohol was at least part of the reason why he hit me, so I looked into it online. But I was too young to really understand the nuances of alcoholism, and I ended up fixating on how alcohol dulls the pain.

I figured, hey, maybe if I drink it too, it won't hurt as much when he hits me," She replied, as she took a deep gulp from her mug.

"That's...absolutely horrible. I'm sorry you had to go through that," Responded Beatriz sympathetically.

Yeah...I know what it's like to have a shithead alcoholic for a father, so I can sympathize.

But at least I had a loving mother for a good part of my childhood, and my father was admittedly alright when she was still alive...but with her, it sounds like she had it rough from the start.

"Nah, it's-...well, yeah, it did suck, but it was a long time ago now, I'm over it. After that, I began stealing some of my father's booze since I couldn't buy any myself, and I ended up getting addicted...the more he beat me, the more I drank, desperate to dull the pain, like I'd read online.

Things changed after I Awakened, though...I finally fought back, and almost killed my father, he was permanently crippled by the time I was done with him.

Since I was still a kid, plus with the abuse taken into account, I didn't get in trouble, and the Union helped cover up the incident. After that, my life steadily improved, and I've never looked back. I left a lot of things in my past, but I guess the alcoholism stuck," She smiled sheepishly.

"Um, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked, that was insensitive of me. It must be painful recalling such awful memories," Apologized Aria remorsefully, following a brief, awkward silence.

"It's cool, you don't need to apologize. It's all kind of a blur anyway, the memories aren't that clear...probably because of the drinking, hahaha!" Laughed Iseul, trying to lighten the mood.

"Well...," Spoke up Jaden hesitantly, before continuing, "If it makes you feel any better, you're not the only one who nearly killed their father after Awakening. I never met my mother, she died shortly after I was born, and my father did raise me kindly at first, but that didn't last.

I don't think alcohol was involved, at least not much, but he was pretty stressed out from his job, and between that and the grief of losing my mother than he never really got over, he took it all out on me."

Yeah, that definitely hits pretty damn close to home.

"Looking back, I think he might have blamed me for my mother's death...he never told me exactly how she died, he was pretty vague about it, but in hindsight, I'm guessing there must have been some complications when she gave birth to me.

And as a child, I was helpless to defend myself, all I could do was sit there and take it, my resentment towards him building up every day.

And after I Awakened, my Magic went out of control when my emotions spiraled while he was beating me, and the next thing I knew, I'd severely injured him.

Same as you, Iseul, I wasn't convicted or anything, for the same reasons you weren't, and the Union covered it up, but a lot of people knew about it, a few neighbors heard the commotion when it happened and spread the word before the Union could get it under wraps."

"Oh, that sucks. In my case, no one else found out about it, until right now since I told you guys. So, in that regard, I guess you had it worse than me," Responded Iseul sympathetically.

"I mean, I did move away to a different area before long, so that didn't really affect me all that much. I had to go through a ton of therapy though, I was left with these intense violent impulses from the trauma, had some major anger issues.

And while I never managed to get rid of them, I eventually learned to embrace those impulses and control them, I was able to channel them into my Hunting, instead of giving in and letting them control me. Before that, I was just violently and indiscriminately lashing out at whoever was around, it was bad."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but that explains a lot," I replied with a smile, a slight look of surprise on his face before he let out an amused chuckle.

"Heh, yeah, I suppose so," He grinned, before adding, "Alright, unless anyone else has got a sad backstory they'd like to get off their chests, I say we end the trauma dump and change the subject!"

"Fine by me. My life was pretty average and uneventful growing up, so I don't have anything to add," Smiled Jin wryly.

"Yeah, me neither, I was pretty socially awkward, but that's not something I feel the need to vent about," Added Aarav.

"Hm? 'Was', huh?" Responded Jin with a raised eyebrow.

"Come on, man..."

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