A former adventurer walks into a bar.
Well, she wasn't /really/ a former adventurer, and she never actually walked into a bar (she was already in it). She was a demon princess only escaped the Oni Tower because she was bored and wanted to switch things up a bit. Now, with her thirst for adventure quenched, she makes her rounds in the bar, NicoNico Pub, being the anonymous yet infamous poker player who never loses. They call her… The Demoness. Perhaps her race would be written in player names forever, hm?
She crossed her legs, fingers splayed, facing towards the light so she could get a better view of the nails she was about to paint. Her collection of multi-coloured nail polish was arranged across the table, and the brush she picked was painted in teal.
Her keen ears picked up the sound of the bell in front of the door ringing a cheerful melody. The Demoness spun around, the metal legs of her stool scraping on the wooden floor. Then, right in front of her eyes…
The Gunner, Bard, Dancer, Bartender and Merchant entered the NicoNico Pub, figures packed together and hearty laughter singing through the atmosphere. The Demoness couldn't help but smile at the sight, immediately standing up. She placed her hand on the opened nail polish bottle, the brush sliding into the blue bottle with ease. Her face brightened from her usual poker face to the rare smiles usually seen when she 'cornered her prey'.
How long had it been until this moment? She had met the charismatic quintet during one of her sneaks out of the castle. It was by sheer coincidence that the quest they were all on were for the 'Demoness Desecrate!' the one where they had to defeat her. Of course, the Demoness didn't want to fight any of them, so she held a congratulating end-of-PQ party for them. Of course, the classes of each member were… Peculiar, to say the least, but because of that quest, she had sparked a fire in them for the ultimate adventure. They didn't keep in touch, to her disappointment.
It had been a few decades now ever since that fateful day. The Bartender had left the pub to a nice man in a suit and tie with his child in the red pinafore. The Dancer left her job at the pub to join the ultimate quest, the Merchant got dragged along to their quest for the quest (even if he would much rather stay at home and read a good chequebook) and The Gunner and Bard tagged along, being nomads from a distant server. Of course, being a Boss Monster had its own responsibilities, so instead of following them, she had to go back to her own castle to wait for another day. It was a few months until a letter was sent to her, stating that the 'Demoness Desecrate!' quest had been put down. At a lost on what to do next, she decided to work in the pub her former teammate once worked in, the NicoNico Pub.
It was a few days until she realized she could not run a bar and make cocktails and drinks and potions. So, the lady decided to work in some other recreation job in the NicoNico Pub. Her talent in Poker was just a coincidence. If not for that, she might have just chosen some other job. Perhaps a dancer, like her former party member?
Out of the rowdiness of the pub, her ears could pick up the chatter from the party group.
"Aah, that was fun! Fighting that slime-golem creature was just so adrenaline-inducing!" The Bard idly strummed on her guitar, an excited smile on her face. Her sibling, the Gunner, rolled his eyes and retorted,
"Bard, you've been saying that like a broken record. This is the... seventeenth time now, Bard?" The Bard's head turned towards him, her smile unable to be broken by a remark by her unamused brother.
"Should I strum a little tune instead of sing?" The Bard replied in a flash, her hands raised to strum the tune. The Gunner immediately leaped away from her, sweat raining down his face. He shook his head. The Bard then nodded. Despite her grin being the same, the Demon could sense a bit of playfulness in her expression.
Meanwhile, the Dancer and the former Bartender (She heard from multiple sources that she was now the Alchemist, using her bartending powers to heal, poison and buff someone. It sounded reasonable, for a person like her) were chatting away on the recent mission, the Dancer chuckling at the Alchemist's attempts on re-enacting the part where they fought the boss. The Merchant was suffering under the weight of the loot of the recent quest, though the Demoness could see that he was concentrating on counting the value of each item and coin.
The Demoness slowly made her way towards the quintet, weaving through the densely packed crowd. Her lips were still smiling.
"Gunner, Bard, Dancer, Alchemist, Merchant!"
Their heads turned towards the poker player, puzzled looks across their features. It took the rest to realize her, but the Bard was first.
"Ah, Demmy!" Bard exclaimed with glee. Demmy was the Bard's nickname for her in the past, which naturally, brought some nostalgia.
"Oh, Demoness!" The rest followed suit, their eyes brightening upon their realization.
The Demoness couldn't help but to smile back. "Guys!"
She picked up the pace, running towards her friends, arms outstretched in a big hug. Her arms nearly circled around them, but a hug was a hug, right?
The ex-party started to laugh joyfully, relishing in the hug for a bit before they released their hug.
"How have you been, Demoness? It's been a while," The Alchemist spoke first, putting her hands on her hips. Her body weight shifted to one of her legs, and she let her head do its natural tilt. As the Demoness was about to open her mouth, she had gotten bombarded in questions.
"Yeah, yeah, it's been a while!"
"I hope you've been saving up for a rainy day."
"Hey, now that Demmy's back, let's play a welcome-back tune!"
"Bard, your songs are horrible, you don't need to worry about a tune- Uh, Demoness, how have you been? It really has been a while—"
"Ohh, who care s about my horrible tunes? Let's go on a quest, for old time's sake!"
"Hrm, I agree with Bard!" The group soon began to chatter about the most famed quests in the town of Nickel, most dangerous, most thrilling, most romantic…
"Sto—p for a minute there!" The Demoness interrupted everyone with a yell, lips curled into a pout. "You're leaving me out of the conversation!"
The group blinked. The pub kept chattering.
"Oh, I-I…! Heh heh, sorry, Demmy~ I just got carried away," the Bard replied sheepishly, scratching her head. The Demoness shook her head, faux disappointment on her face.
"Well—if you don't want me in your conversation, I guess I'll just go back to—"
"W-wait a minute! Don't break up a reunion of friends because we left you out on one conversation! We're sorry!" The Merchant immediately protested, leaning towards her. He immediately snapped back, crossing his arms and pinching his eyes shut. "We were planning on visiting you, so if you leave it would all be for naught—"
"I'm just playing you, Merchant," the Demoness squinted at him, hands behind her back. She stepped towards him before she quickly slid to the space beside him, "Unle~ss—"
"Eep! Get her away, Dancer!" The Merchant squealed, dashing towards the Dancer's behind. The Dancer tutted and pulled the Merchant back to the front by the arm.
"Don't need to worry, Merchant, she's often like this," the Dancer assured him, a small smile on her face, "but, Demoness, if you want to, you can join us on our next quest, if you'd like."
The Demoness looked at the Dancer, furrowing her brows. "I'd like to, definitely! But... I have the bar to tend to-"
"Oh, right!" The Gunner piped up, "Either way, we can't…"
"Oh, silly brother! You do know there is such things like a 'leave of absence', right?" The Bard interrupted, bumping his shoulder. "Plus, she knows damn well we're going to drag her along, whether she likes it or not!"
"You make it sound like we're criminals, Bard," the Gunner huffed, crossing his arms and turning his head away.
"Well, aren't we?" the Bard joked. "Well, either she gets a holiday or we drag her away!"
"Hmm… But if she doesn't want adventure, what do we do?" The Dancer replied. The group fell in silence.
"W-well! It's apparent that she has a job, and dragging her away might mean kidnapping to the media, you know…?"
"Shut up, Merchant."
"You wound me so…"
"So, Demoness, how about an adventure? Like old times?" The Alchemist looked at her and cocked an eyebrow. The Demoness' eyes trailed to the wooden flooring of the pub.
She loved her job here, beating people at Poker ever since she joined. Meeting people – travellers – whose homelands are all over the globe was such an honour for her, and learning about their cultures…? She could do them all the same in the party, but none of them would have similar interests at all that they can bond over. Soon, they'll just up and leave an area, and move on to the next. That is how the ultimate party works.
On the other hand, she loved being free. Staying in the pub surely did horrors for her skin and her fitness, and sitting in one place made her legs hurt. The money earned in the pub was a measly sum, and being in a party and adventuring all across the globe would have treasures that could be sold for a large sum…
"You know what? I think I might leave the pub," the Demoness said, after a while of pondering. The party members immediately jumped at her decision.
"Y-you mean.. What?!" They all yelled in unison. The Demoness laughed, rubbing the back of her neck.
"I-I mean... I weighed the pros and cons, like Merchant over there." she gestured towards the accountant, who shrunk back. "And I think, 'Why not be a permanent party member?'"
"A-are you sure, Demoness? I mean… The wage isn't stable, here," the Alchemist hummed, tapping her index finger on her forearm. The Merchant nodded furiously in the background.
"And it's going to be D-A-N-G-E-R-O-U-S!" The Bard sang.
"Guys!" The Demoness pouted and put her hands on her hips. "You know well that when the Demoness decides on something…"
"She never gives up!" the Bard yelled. The Demoness smiled widely at her friend, nodding proudly.
"...Well, if you're sure, Demoness…" The Gunner trailed off, "We'll be glad to add you in the party."
"I don't have any objections," the Dancer chirped, clapping her hands together. "I'm very excited to be in this quest with the Demoness again!"
"Aww yeah, fireballs intensify!" the Bard cheered, jumping around.
"Didn't she excel in summoning spells?" the Gunner murmured, rubbing his chin in thought.
"I just brewed some potions for 20% on LUK… I think you might need them," the Alchemist lilted, rummaging through her bag full on potion apparatus' to lift out two flasks containing orange and green liquids.
"I'll have to manage the budget… Again," the Merchant grumbled silently, though he was blissfully ignored.
The Demoness couldn't help but smile at how excited her once-again teammates were. Maybe this was a good choice after all…
This was where the real adventure began!