forum The Purple Cauldron Tavern

Started May 02, 2019 by @GameMaster group

tune

Not long after, Lucas walked back into the tavern, this time with another person. They chatted a little bit and sat down at the counter. “Hello again” Lucas waved at the barkeep.

Zera grew silent as once again she was left alone in her corner. She was alright with that. The female shifted a bit, her gaze flitting to the door as the one reappeared, now with another. A forked tongue flicked past her lips, testing the air. Currently, there were many scents, it just took a bit to sort such scents and get the organized, knowing who was who and what was what. Came in handy for situations such as this.
There was still no immediate danger she could sense. Something Zera was slightly relieved about. It was nice for once to be amongst other creatures…to be herself, for the most part, and not worry about slipping up about what she was, as they knew now.

“Hey Lucas, who’s the new one? Name, drink, and story please. Drink for you too Lucas? I bet I can find something strong enough to make you flinch,” The barkeep flirted.

Tolkalee hadn't actually left yet. He was standing outside looking at the sky. It was dark, but he could see the rain drops coming down. He found them relaxing.

Zera stood up suddenly. It was starting to get…crowded. Well, it really wasn't crowded, but something in her was stirring, not wanting to be inside. Inside was dangerous, walls, ceilings, an enclosed space, too much like the prison…no…she needed space, room to move should a threat suddenly present itself.
Slowly, the woman stood up, pulling her hood over her head again. She moved silently, barely making a sound as she soon went outside. She paused outside, her violet eyes gazing upwards towards the dark sky. Her once hard gaze became even more relaxed. The slit pupils became round. She showed more emotion than when she had been inside with all the rest.
The sky…she longed to fly…to be free in the element she belonged…but that was never to be…
The female barely noticed the male from earlier who stood outside as well now.

He glanced at the woman who stood near him, and, not wanting to scare her, cleared his throat quietly to let her know he was there.

“Josiah Chase, I’ll take the same as Lucas’ and I sold my soul to the devil to confirm a deal about making me a Phantom…weird, I know but I hated being a normal human. Plus, I don’t have to look after my soul myself” the new figure introduced himself. He had a mask on like Lucas but the facial expression of the masks were different; Lucas’ was a smiling face while his was a surprised face. He had ghost white hair like Lucas but he had streaks of light blue.

Lucas turned to the barkeep. “I’ll take something soft first, something zesty might be nice. But for you sir…” he turned to Josiah. “You can have the drink that made me almost drunk” he gestured to the barkeep. “Could you please get him the unnamed drink you got me earlier? Let’s see how much you can handle…” he turned back to Josiah.

Hearing the soft noise, her head lowered. Instead, her gaze shifted over, the round pupils once again narrowing slightly. The female seemingly withdrew into herself. Zera took a step back, bowing her head slightly.
"F-forgive me…I did not mean to disturb you," her voice was soft, "I just needed some air…I can take my leave if I am bothering you."
Zera was willing to backdown if asked to, she was not interested in all in intruding on another's space. The female would rather avoid conflict, then cause it.

"No you're fine," Tolkalee said before she backed away from him. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't scare you."

The barkeeper’s eyes floated back and forth between the two. She turned and started filling glasses. “One whiskey…” she handed a glass to Lucas. “And one…lets call it the Phantom… for Josiah.”

Both of the Phantoms shifted their masks, revealing only the bottom half of their faces. Lucas took a sip of the Whiskey while Josiah hesitated to take that drink. “C’mon, it’s not that bad” Lucas claimed, downing half the glass of the whiskey already.

“Fine fine…” Josiah agreed as he took a sip of the drink. He had the same reaction as Lucas’ but was to a different degree. “Oh god…this burns…” Josiah claimed. “Can we just call this the Poltergeist? ‘Cause geez, this burns really badly…”

Zera gave a slight nod in understanding. Her violet gaze shifted back to the sky. The drops falling were…slightly comforting. The female let her eyes continue to wander across the dark sky.
"It is nice…out here in the open…"
She honestly did prefer being outside. That more draconic side loving the outside, being away from anything that was considered 'man made'. Zera didn't quite understand it, never really having been able to control her draconic nature. She sensed some things, but there were others that left her completely confused.

“Poltergeist is good too but I find Phantom more fitting since you are some of the only ones who have had that and not died or lapsed into a coma on the spot. Are you also on a ‘break’ Josiah?”

“Yeah that would make sense…also, yes. But mine was a good one, unlike Lucas here. Mine’s an actual break ‘cause I just went through three wars and had enough time to prepare for another one coming real soon” Josiah claimed before taking another sip.

Tolkalee looked back at the sky as well. He liked being out here, it was more natural for him anyway. He lived in the roots of a tree. Plus it was calming out here. Then he realized that he'd probably come across as rude. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm… Well, I guess you can decide what you'd like to call me," he glanced at the woman.

“Let me guess, angels pulling you into their stupid slap fights. It is a literal miracle that heaven hasn’t come crashing down on earth yet.” The barkeep frowned and for just a second her eyes lit up with fire. She blinked again and her grey eyes returned to normal.

“Oh dear, look at the time. I’d best be going. Serve yourself drinks and mingle. I’ll be back in…seven hours maybe. I’m trying out new territory. Not usually fun.” The barkeeper waved and flashed out of view.

The female continued look longingly towards the sky. She wanted to feel the air, the wind rush past her as she flew…but sadly that would never happen. She would never fly again, and she knew it…
Her eyes shifted towards the male. The woman's forked tongue once again slipped past her lips to test the air. The scents were mingled, as usual. Though it seemed both the male and herself seemed more comfortable out in the open, than being inside. She let her gaze seemingly look him over, then shifted back to stare upwards at the sky.
"I am not one to name someone when they already have a name, but I am also not one to pry should said person or creature wish to keep their true name to themselves."
She could understand the reasoning to hide one's true identity. Zera herself needed to be careful how she spoke depending on where she was currently. One slip of the tongue could instantly spell disaster.

A light smile touched Tolkalee's face. "I won't hide my real name from you if you wish to know. But the two names I go by mostly are Tolkalee or Hosea," he looked at a puddled that had formed on the ground. "Which would you rather use?"

S.K took the Barkeep's position at the bar, going to pour themselves a small shot of vodka mixed with a bit of the glowing green liquid from their pocket. "Would you mind if I collected your stories?" S.K asked after a moment of quiet, it had been a while since they collected their last story, as they had taken an off day yesterday. "Also, to the newcomers, my name is The Story Keeper, you can call me S.K, rolls off the tongue better.

Calix finishednhis drink and looked at Vasilios. "You know you're lucky."
"What."
"You're a demon, therefore you don't have wings."
"Trueee…."
"They are quite annoying."
"Alright Angelic hero."
"Eh you seem a bit more Angelic and nice that me. I'm probably the actual demon between the two of us." Calix said and laughed.

Josiah and Lucas glanced at Calix and Vasilios. As they are Phantoms, they don’t get along with Angels nor do they get along well with Devils. So seeing them just made them sick.

"Please keep prejudice outside. I do not wish to clean up blood today." S.K stated, washing a glass as she watched the pairs who were sitting at the bar.

Both Lucas and Josiah looked at S.K. “Of course, we’re not looking for a fight here either…” Josiah stated. “…well, not here, maybe somewhere else” Lucas added as they both giggled. Lucas finished his drink while Josiah downed half of his.

"Good, if you did fight in here I would have to remove both parties from their stories. A quite painful process for the people I'd be doing it to." S.K explained, deciding to remove their mask, it was getting hot under it anyways. Once they did, a face, scarred beyond repair peered at the people in the bar.

Lucas and Josiah saw the scars. They both shifted their masks slightly to reveal some scars marked on the upper part of their face as well. They both denied to take off their mask and shifted the masks back to their places once S.K saw their cuts.

"Battle scars?" S.K asked, face emotionless, it seemed the scars rendered them unable to make expressions with their face. It was a hard world, it was an even harder world for people who were that young to have scars like theirs.

If anyone looked, they could see Hinata, sitting in the corner, hands tightly around her sword hilts. She didn't do this in a threatening way, but for comfort. They were the only ones who could never leave her alone.

“Mine were battle scars, mainly from fighting the illegal mortals who broke into the Soul Labyrinth, our home” Lucas claimed.

“…and mine were from the wars I fought. Most of these were made by the Good Side of the trinity…” Josiah claimed, glancing once at Calix but turned back at S.K.

Hinata, finally sober, looked up at the mention of Soul Labyrinth.