"I don't truly recall a time when I have been entirely sober in the last while," Athos freely confesses, blinking as he knows that is, perhaps, not the best reference of his character. He doesn't usually say as much, either, for Aramis and Porthos would take issue with his indulgences. "If this were my home," Athos says, "then the wine would not be so weak."

He takes the time, now, to truly study his companion. "I don't understand this place. It seems so far-fetched and odd, as if time has marched on. It should be 1630," he says obstinately. "But I am far from my troubles and far from ghosts, so I do not know that I mind overly much."