Hey there folks Ninj4Fox here! I decided to make a few changes to this story, the Bar in Daath made little sense to me so I decided to make a village or city that wouldn't be well known to either Kimlasca or Malkuth, more of an area that works under the grid, so expect some shady types and gangs in this story, I feel that it will help things move along smoother as I go along here.

Well, let's get this thing started, hope you all enjoy this one.

Edited With Grammarly.

The Bartender

Chapter 1

New Lease on life

Luke stumbled across the large alleyway of an unknown city, fresh wounds littered his body, he looked thin from malnutrition, and his skin was white pale from loss of blood.

The boy had traveled from Yulia city to the outer lands after he woke up from being connected with Asch, after everything that had happened with Akzeiuth being destroyed, everyone turning their backs on him, and then finding out that he was just a replica, a simple reproduction of a human being, it was all too much for the young redhead, he quickly left Tear's room leaving the still sleeping Mieu behind, and found a way out of Yulia city, he traveled far and wide searching for a place to seclude himself, hoping to forget about what had all happened, however things didn't work out in his favor as the lack of supplies and constant encounters with monsters made things difficult, after facing a powerful monster and barely escaping with his life, he managed to find himself into a large city in the dead of night.

Which brings us back to Luke's current situation, the boy's vision began to blur as he walked further into the alley, his strength finally gave out on him and he fell over knocking over a trashcan.

'So this...is how I die huh?' He thought to himself, through the immense pain, he managed to smile sadly. 'I guess it's not so bad.' He thought as his vision darkened signifying that he was about to pass out, just before closing his eye, he barely caught someone walking up to him with a worried expression, he could hear the man call out to me, asking if I was okay, his eye's widened as he spotted the wounds, he called out to his friends calling for help, a second later two more people showed by and tended to him, just before he passed out, he could feel his body being lifted and carried inside, the next moment everything went black.

''What have you done Luke?''

''I-I didn't Know...I''

''What you did was unforgivable; I can stand the sight of you!''

''Luke...Don't make me think even less of you.''

''Guy?, not you too?!, It's not my fault, it's not!

''I was stupid to think there was any good in you.''

''NOOO!'' Luke bolted up right from the bed he was sleeping in, breathing heavily and drenched in a cold sweat, haunted by the voices in his nightmares.

''He took notice to the unfamiliar room, taking a look around, he took notice of the assortment of antiseptics and gauze on the nightstand next to the bed, looking down he saw parts of his body wrapped in gauze and other bandages.

''Where am I?'' He whispered to himself, to lost in thought to hear the quickening footsteps coming closer to the door of the room.

The door burst open revealing a middle-aged man running inside the room looking panicked, this of course startled the redhead making him jump and fall off the bed on to the floor.

''Oh Shit, are you okay kid?'' The man asked as he ran to the downed noble.

''Oww.'' Luke grunted still sore from the wounds he had sustained, he could feel himself being lifted up from the floor and placed back on the bed.

Luke took the chance to looked at the man who saved him, the guy looked like he was at least in his early thirties, he had a small beard that went along his chin and was attached to the sideburns on his face, he was dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white dress shirt, a gray vest was worn over the shirt, and finished off the look with a pair of expensive looking snakeskin shoes.

''Are you a right kid?'' He asked worriedly.

''Yeah...I-I'm fine,'' Luke answered as he calmed his nerves.

The man signed. ''That good, I thought something had happened to you when I heard you yell from up the stairs, it's good to know your not hurt.'' The man said.

''Who are you?'' Luke asked. The man smiled.

''The names Duncan, me and the boys found you outside on the verge of death, fortunately, we had a first-aid kit and managed to patch you up, you lost a lot of blood though.'' The now named Duncan answered.

Luke stared at the man before he smiled and laid back down. ''Thank you.'' He said.

''Anytime kid, what happened to you anyway?'' Duncan asked. Luke tensed a bit which Duncan noticed.

''I...Somethings happened...Some I'm not ready to talk about...Sorry.'' Luke said as he lowered his head, the bangs of his hair hiding the pain in his eyes, however, the man felt the pain from the redhead had felt a bit guilty for prying.

''Don't worry about it, forget I brought it up.'' He said. ''Anyway I think It time you meet the rest of the group.''

Duncan went to the door. ''Chris!, Hiro!, Ross!, come on up here, the kid's awake!.'' He yelled, a moment later multiple footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs, it didn't take long for the men to come inside the room. They all look to be at least 21 or older.

Chris looked to be the youngest out of them, he was rather tall and slim, he wore a pair of brown slacks and a white dress shirt, he had a pair of glasses and had a bit of an educated look about him, his hair was a light brown and was styled a little combed back with one small bang of hair showed on his forehead, he looked at Luke with great relief as he saw that the redhead was awake.

Hiro was also a tall man, who looked to be the second oldest close to Duncan, he was tall and quite built, though much of his clothing hid it, his shoulders was a dead give away, his face was a bit stoic and emotionless, but his eye had a certain flame behind them, put them together and you get a pretty intimidating figure, however that was all destroyed as the man looked softened as he too was relieved that Luke was okay.

Hiro wore clothing similar to Chris, only the color was a light gray, making it almost look white, the way he wore the suit was a bit more relaxed as the top button of the shirt was unbuttoned, his hair was black and slicked back. (Think of Kiryu from Yakuza, I made him similar but not the same.)

Ross was the last one, he looked to be the same age as Chris, right off the bat you can tell that the man was rather energetic and carefree, there was a certain mischievous glow to his eyes, he immediately smiled at Luke with a wide grin, somehow this seemed to rub off on the redhead also as he smiled too, the man also wore formal clothing, he wore a pair of Black slacks and a black dress shirt to go with it, he had a few piercings on his ears and on his eyebrow showing he had a bit of a rebellious streak.

''Hey there, names Ross Michelle, it's good to see your alright,'' Ross said to Luke still smiling. Hiro decided to greet the boy.

''Hello, my name is Hiro Uzuki, It's a relief to see that you're alive.'' The deep but soft-speaking man said. Chris pushed his glasses back.

And I'm Chris Myers, I was the one who patched your wounds, it's good to see that you're finally awake.'' He said. ''How are you feeling?'' He asked.

''I'm still a bit sore, but I feel a little better, thank you,'' Luke said as he smiled, feeling safe with the men who saved him.

''Anytime, I'm just happy you're okay,'' Chris said, he began to check Luke over to make sure the bleeding stopped, much to his relief it did, he just had to place clean gauze on the redhead to prevent any infections.

''Thankfully the bleeding has stopped, I just have to remove the old gauze and clean the wounds before applying more, other than that you're in the clear,'' Chris explained as he finished examining Luke.

Luke nodded, he was somehow happy that he was saved by these men, When he ventured out of his own, he wasn't against dying, he was going as far as to say that me may have welcomed it, as long as it freed him from the guilt of killing thousands of innocent people, but for some reason he felt that he had somehow got a new lease on life, a life that didn't remind him of his sin, of the betrayal of his most closest mentor and father figure, and finally being abandoned by those he had trusted, when he thought of this, he knew that he had no places else to go, to one to turn to, he was going to have to make a choice on what he was going to do from here on. However, he would ponder on that later, for now, he would stay and recuperate.

The four men helped Luke stand and removed the gauze from his body, what showed underneath made the noble a bit squeamish, there was a multitude a fresh scars, some were shallow, a few were deep enough to require stitches to close them, he had no idea that the monsters he encountered injured him that badly.

He was led to the bathroom, where they allowed him to bathe and wash off the dried blood from his scars, all the while the former noble was thinking.

'What do I do now?, I have no place else to go, I'm sure as hell not going back to Baticul, pretty sure I'll either be imprisoned or killed, and everyone else...I...i can't go back to them either, I know Guy went back for me, but...i just can stand to face him right now, not after what I did.' He thought. A few tears poured from his eyes as he thought of his best friend, he felt bad for leaving the way he did, with Guy waiting for him, but for now, this was for the best. I'm sorry Guy...I just hope you'll forgive me when we meet again.'

After washing up, Chris reapplied fresh gauze and disinfectant, while Ross gave Luke some of his old clothes.

''Alright, your well enough to start moving around, just don't do any strenuous activity okay?'' Chris said.

Luke nodded not wanting to reopen his wounds, Ross smiled.

''Gotta admit kid, your pretty tough to survive all those injuries.'' He said. Luke frowned a little he was getting a little tired of being called kid all the time.

''Luke.'' He said.

''Huh?'' Ross asked confused.

''My name is Luke.'' the redhead said.

''Oh okay, Not a bad name,'' Ross said with a smile, Luke couldn't help but smile as well.

Duncan called from downstairs telling everyone that dinner was ready, everyone went down to the lower level, the moment Luke reached the bottom floor he was instantly hit with a heavenly aroma, he couldn't explain it, it was almost as good as the smell when the royal chef makes a feast, however, somehow the smell was slightly different, like a different type of food, it made the redhead curious as to what he was going to eat this night, looking around he found the place was a huge diner almost like luxury restaurant, on another part of the Bar was a large bar with rows upon rows of large alcoholic beverages, he had heard from guy about places like these, where people would come to have a good time, from enjoying time with friends, to simply drinking and relaxing after a hard day.

'So these are the places Guy talked about, it's kinda nice, think I like it.' He thought.

Luke and the others took a seat at the table waiting for Duncan, a moment later the man came out the kitchen with plates on a large circular tray, placing the tray in the center of the table he smiled.

''Heh heh, decided to do my special for tonight, thought Luke here may like it.'' He said.

''Alright!, dude I always love the steakhouse specials!.'' Ross yelled excitedly, Chris and Hiro smiled showing that they also had a great liking to Duncan's special menu, Luke looked at the food strangely, he had seen something like this before, but couldn't exactly remember what it was, it was when he was reading another catalog when he was curious about the outside world, suddenly another flashback hit him. The book he had looked at was a cooking catalog, there was a certain food called the Hamburger that caught his interest, reading that this food could be made into a nice gourmet meal depending on how you make it, there was at one time when he asked if he could try one, however, due to the dumb ideologies of royalty that was shot down, it was one of the times where Luke basically admitted that being royalty absolutely sucked.

Luke took a look around and saw the others digging in, observing how they ate the food, he figured that it was much easier to use his hands instead of a knife and fork, taking up the burger he took his first bite. Luke's eyes widened as the flavor of the burger exploded in his mouth, he couldn't describe what this taste was, he just knew that it was heavenly, for some reason he could tell that everything went together perfectly, the onion, tomato, lettuce, the mayonnaise and mustard, the meat, everything he could taste in the meal just somehow seemed right, he didn't notice everyone looking at him amused.

''Wow Luke, if I didn't know better, I'd say this is the first time you've ever had a meal like this before,'' Duncan said happy that Luke was enjoying his special.

Luke finished chewing and swallowed the food. ''This IS the first time I've ever tried this,'' Luke answered. ''I've heard about this before from an old friend of mine, but I never tried it...My family was kind of stingy about what food they eat.'' He explains.

''Like much of the upper class or Royalty huh? Ross asked. Luke nodded. ''Tch figures, they have no idea what they're missing out on.'' He finished before he started eating again.

The others agreed, Luke couldn't help but agree with the man's argument, he noticed that Royal families tend to miss out on a whole lot more than others when their so use to getting everything, In a way he was kind of happy that he wasn't of the Royal family, despite there could have been better way for the news to come out, but he was happy that he got away from that, he didn't need to be more stuck up and stingy than he already was.

Everyone ate in silence the rest of the time until the plates were clean, and everyone sighed in satisfaction with full stomachs, Ross seeing that it was the perfect moment, decided to start some small talk to get to know Luke better.

''So Luke, where exactly did you come from anyway?'' He asked. ''What with you said earlier, you made it sound like you came from an upper-class family.'' He said

Luke thought for a moment, he couldn't tell them the truth about what happened, especially when he's still reeling from the whole situation, for now, he would have to bend the truth a bit and hope for the best.

''Yeah, I came from a rich family in Baticul, apparently they were close friends with the king, I always had high expectations put on my shoulders, and I really couldn't hang out with the people I wanted to since they disapproved of them, well my father truly didn't, my mother was more neutral on the aspect,'' Luke explained.

Duncan and the other nodded having known about the detestable attitudes and customs of the rich and royalty, it was something they hated with a passion due to countless people suffering due to said customs and selfishness.

''This is why I never trust the royal families, they always think that common people are below them, and never do anything for them, it's usually those people with that mindset become tyrants,'' Chris said the others nodding in agreement.

''So what made you leave?'' Ross asked. Luke sighed.

''I just couldn't stand it anymore, the burdens, the mannerisms, and then the forced marriages just for them to save their wealth and reputation, all it was doing was just destroying me, I couldn't imagine myself getting married to some stuck-up princess, the thing they valued was something I grew to hate immensely.'' Luke finished.

Duncan smiled. ''Well since you ran away, you pretty much have no place to go to right?'' He asked, Luke nodded.

''Well why not stay here with us?'' He asked. We pretty much own this place, the club, and all, we got plenty of rooms, and we could always use some extra help.'' The man explained

Luke looked surprised for a moment then smiled, he didn't expect the man to offer him a place to stay, he was thinking of leaving after he had recovered, but he was offered asylum, not wanting to look the gifted horse in the mouth, he made his decision.

''Yes, I would be happy too,'' Luke answered. Everyone smiled at the redhead, happy that they could get an extra addition to their team.

''Well Luke buddy, welcome to the Serena Bar, good to have you with us!'' Ross said as he warped his arm around Luke's shoulder. Luke looked around to find everyone smiling welcoming his with open arms, he didn't know that a few tears began leaking out of the boy's eyes.

For him, it was more than just being saved, given food, or given permanent asylum, for him, it was being welcomed, being accepted.

And Finished, sorry if there weren't too many changes, but I decided not to change too much on the first chapter, however, the real changes will start on the remake of the second chapter, the name of the city will be revealed, and I will probably add to Luke hidden talents, I think that will be all for now.

Also, I've been thinking of when and how Luke would reunite with the others in the story, all I know is that it will happen fairly early, so if any are able, please help me with this, remember the suggestions will be on when and how Luke will encounter the group again.

Anyway I have to apologize to you all for the long unannounced break I've been taking, things were starting to get a little overwhelming for me after a while and I needed a little break to get my head on right and focus on one story, plus work as rather busy and I barely had the time, but since things have calmed down and I'm getting a better paying job soon, I got some to time to do this.

Also I will most tell you all of more changes and the references I got them from on the notes before I start the second chapter, I have a feeling you'll like this one, since this will give Luke a rather large backbone in this story, others might figure it out immediately, if you do congrats.

Well, it's time for me to get going, Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, just so you know I only made slight edits to the same first chapter I did a while back, but the second chapter will be totally different. Alright, until next time, This is Ninj4Fox sighing off.

Ja Ne.