I have once again proved to myself...that I have no patience or impulse control. I wasn't actually planning on posting this until a couple months from now but then I had a boring late night meeting and...well. Here I am.
New story! One that I'm super excited about too! This will have slow updates and NO UPDATE SCHEDULE unlike my other stories. I will post only when a new chapter is ready and I'm focusing on my other stories and keeping their schedule before writing anything for this. This is like my breaktime story so I only write new content like every few months currently. When I say slow updates...I mean slow updates. Hope you all enjoy!
Crazed and dark laughter spilled out form the rather large but clearly not well-maintained bar. The lighting was poor, the streets more mud than stone, and the air stank of things better left not mentioned. The bar fit right in with the surround buildings, rot and mold along the bases of outer blinds, rooves with poor patch jobs, large cracks running along the sides of the buildings. The entire street was a disaster waiting to happen. Or the result of one.
Three hooded figures clung to the shadows of the street as they moved towards the bar. The one in the center led confidently, no hesitation at all in their step. On the left, with twitchy hands and the occasional flinch as a particular loud laugh resounded down the street, it was clear the second figure was more than a little uneasy. The last figure, while keeping their hood low to cover their face, had their head on a swivel. As they walked towards the bar there was no part of the street that wasn't checked and evaluated by the third figure.
As they reached the doors to the bar both figures on the left and right tensed before taking what could only be glances at the figure in the middle. The middle figure paid them no mind before reaching a dainty hand out to carefully open the bar's doors. With more controlled movements from the flanking two, all three figures entered the bar.
The bar was filled with all manner of creatures. A group of blue skinned, tiny men with leathery wings on their backs occupied a series of tables along the far-left wall. The center of the bar was occupied by several small, furry creatures climbing all over the backs of two large half-horse, half-man like creatures that were laying on the floor. Not far from the door were a pair of flower-like creatures. Faces peaked out through layers of flower petals and a smile from one revealed razor-sharp teeth. The bar itself stood along the back of the building. Behind it was a creature with large donkey ears, huge black eyes, and short black horns on its head. It was serving drinks to a pair of creatures who were human from the waist up but goat down and had a large pair of curled horns on their heads.
The middle cloaked figure took less than half a second to evaluate the bar before heading to an empty table against a wall about halfway to the bar, the other two quickly following. A few sly glances were sent their way as the three passed but none focused on them for long. They sat in the same formation against the wall, looking out across the room. They made no move to head for the bar and order drinks or to try and wave down anyone who may have been able to take an order. The bartender himself glanced at them but quickly moved his eyes away to a hallway that lurked behind the group of blue creatures.
He watched the door for a moment before it slowly opened. Quickly, the donkey-eared bartender returned his attention to the bar in front of himself, trying to ignore the shiver that ran down his spine as the shadows seems to grow throughout the bar.
A breeze blew through the bar shortly after, slight enough that nearly everyone ignored it. The booze had been flowing for a while and most occupants were well past drunk at that point of the night. Not even the bartender, who was distracted by the shadows, noticed the breeze. One of the two creatures at the bar did, however.
At the breeze, it perked up and quickly scanned the entire place before settling his eyes on the table with the three cloaked individuals. A small brown ear flicked as the creature's black eyes narrowed and a tongue slipped out to wet its lips. The other creature, drunk by this point, ignored its companion as he stood and began to make his way to the table. The three figures paid him no mind until he stood right in front of them.
"Well, hello there. What brings you three out to a place like this?" the creature asked as he stepped in front of the table. At once, all three individuals turned to face the creature, faces still shadowed by their hoods. The weight of their eyes on him sent shivers down his spine.
It was enough to confirm what the creature had suspected. There had been a hint of powerful magic in that breeze. Maybe even high fae magic.
He ran his eyes over them, trying, but failing, to see what lay in the shadows of their hoods. Their cloaks, while low quality and definitely something the creature would expect to see in this part of the town, were clean. Way too clean to belong to anyone who would be forced to come to an establishment like this. That was enough to tell the creature that they weren't locals. He just couldn't tell how close to the city center the three were from.
Before he got a chance to probe for any of that information though, a blond man clapped him on the shoulder, startling all four individuals.
"Really Petri? You know the rules," the man said. His gaze cut across the table, but he gave the three individuals there less than half a second of attention before focusing back on Petri.
He was too cherub looking for the surrounding bar. With his blond locks curling sweetly around his soft looking face and electric blue eyes, he looked surreal in the dingy bar. He was tall, clearly taller than Petri by a fair amount, but looked to be human. His clothing though, simple pants and a long-sleeved shirt, weren't too tight or too loose in a way that gave the impression of hidden dangers best left alone.
"Rules say nothing about approaching a new face," Petri said with a stubborn jut of his lip. The blond man then sent a savage smile at the creature showing off a pair of sharp, dog-like canine teeth.
"Is that so?"
"Satyrs are not allowed to approach unaccompanied women," a soft voice said, cutting through the noise of the bar. As the left figure had spoken it had seemed as if the entire bar had silenced to listen before the noise picked up again. The blond man's head snapped in her direction while Petri smirked at the three.
"Who says I'm a satyr and not just a stray faun huh? I mean, I'm just as fuzzy and cuddly as a faun," Petri said.
"Your fur is black as night. No faun would let their coat get so disgustingly dirty," the figure on the right growled out. "Now fuck off before I get pissed off."
"Things have been pretty poor on the underbelly here and I haven't been able to shower for a few nights is all."
"There's a spring of day water just three streets down. Open to all. Why not go take a dip and let us know how it goes? Unless, of course, you aren't actually a true citizen of the Kingdom of Light," the figure on the right snapped back.
The middle figure seemed to click her tongue at this before reaching out and laying her hand on the lap of the right figure. Petri wasn't smiling anymore. The blond man, who had been silently watching the three figures, seemed to decide that he'd had enough. He squeezed Petri's shoulder before the satyr could say anything, bringing his attention to the blond man.
"Come on Petri, head on back to your brother at the bar there. We all know Parti is the one with all the brains between the two of you anyways. Don't want you to do something that might piss off the big man without him."
Petri paled at that before casting a furtive glance across the bar at the door. The group of blue men had moved slightly, clearing a path to the door. Shadows still clung to the door and something about it left one feeling nothing but unsettled. With a quick nod, Petri turned and quickly made his way back to the bar. The blond man turned back to the three ladies but didn't take a seat.
"Hello ladies. What brings you to an establishment like this?" He sweetly asked, a deceptively kind smile on his face. The three cloaked women gave him their full attention. Without seeing their faces, it was hard to tell what they thought but there was a hint disinterest in the air that showed that they weren't impressed.
After a second or two of this, the man's smile dropped a fraction of a centimeter. It was almost indiscernible, but it seemed to work as a trigger for the woman in the middle.
"We came looking for something," she said calmly in a voice as cold as ice. The blond man felt the hairs on his neck rise slightly at the hidden power there.
He couldn't taste any magic, but he could tell. This was not a woman to anger.
"Well, maybe I can be of some help then. What did you have in mind? Coming to a place like this I can only guessing that you're looking for a service of some sort. A number of… professionals of all sorts frequent this bar. If you give me a description of what you're looking for I'm sure I can point you in the right direction. Can I get a name first? Of the wonderful women I'm helping out tonight?" his voice was velvet smooth and seemed to creep and cling like shadows to the table.
"It is rude to ask for a name without first offering one up," the middle woman said, her voice seeming to cut straight through the creeping shadows. The man barely managed to avoid frowning.
"That's true in most cases. In this part of town though, I think you'll find that not offering a name first will turn most people away from you. We aren't a very trusting lot in this part of the city and we need a sign of good faith first."
"Perhaps it would be better, sir, if you invited your companion over for this conversation. I believe he will have interest in what we have to say even without our names," the sing-song, bar silencing voice of the left woman rang out. Again, the sounds of the bar seemed to morph around her words.
The blond man spun around quickly at that to see a hulking man in green making his way across the bar to their table. He was of similar height to the blond man but looked to be about twice his size in muscle. The clothes he was wearing, a simple tunic and pants, were stretched tight across his body. His eyes were a dark, violent, forest green hinting at something feral and his hair looked to be a pure black. Even when the little light in the bar caught his hair the shift in color was so slight that there was no doubt that any brown in his hair was clearly outnumbered.
The three women didn't flinch as the beast of a man as he came to stand by the blond. Said blond man frowned at the newcomer.
"I had this handled. Why are you out here?" he asked. The green man shrugged.
"Big bro wants us to bring them back."
The blond man's eyes cut violently across the table at the women, clearly not happy with something. The shadows seemed to pulse as the light waxed and waned in the bar. "They-" he began to growl out only to be cut off.
"Enough Boomer. I know we raised you with better manners than that. Plus, you really want to go against an order from big bro?" The green man said too softly for any of the women to hear.
Or so he had thought. The woman on the left cocked her head and the man in green could feel as her gaze shifted to him. A second later and the other two women were regarding him as well.
It sent a shiver down his spine.
"Fine. I had it handled though," Boomer softly hissed back, not noticing that the women on the left shifted her attention back to him at that.
Swallowing another shiver, the man in green inclined his head slightly at the women. "A pleasure ladies. My name is Butch, and this is my brother Boomer. We've been asked to escort you three to the back room. Our eldest brother will speak with you there."
The women watched them both for a moment before standing as one.
"Please lead the way," the middle one said.
With a nod, Butch spun on his heels and began to lead them all across the bar. Every occupant watched them without watching. The right hooded women slowly scanned out over the bar as they walked through the room and no one dared try to meet her look. They shied away from her attention.
Boomer opened the door and held it open as Butch walked through. He glared at the women as they followed through the door before following himself. He barely managed to stop himself from slamming the door shut behind him.
The closed door did nothing to cut down on the noise from the bar. The dark hallway led quickly to a staircase that Butch went up, two stairs at a time.
"Careful. Some of the steps might still be rotten," he said over his shoulder with a feral grin. The three women regarded him silently for a moment before the middle one stepped forward. She didn't hesitate as she climbed the steps, the other two following exactly in her footsteps. Boomer tsked as they steadily climbed the stairs without any troubles.
Once the had reached the second floor the noise from below cut off abruptly. The woman who was again on the left cast a glance down the stairs. Boomer sent her a feral grin that was all teeth the second he noticed. A delicate frown was all he could make out before the woman turned back around to follow her companions. Butch stopped in front of another door.
"This is the heart of the Devil's Den. If you make any trouble beyond this door here your life is forfeit. Understood?"
"I would expect nothing less. Please lead on," the middle woman said.
Butch watched for second longer, just in case they changed their minds, before shrugging and all but throwing the door open and sauntering in. The three stepped through the door and into the room after him, Boomer following after.
It was dimly lit and small but clearly in better shape than the rest of the bar. A desk covered in papers occupied one corner while the rest of the space was taken up by a seating arrangement. A large U-shaped sofa with a large wooden table in front of it. The table seemed to be home to a variety of substances beyond just alcohol. Lounging directly across from the door was a man with deep red hair and eyes the color of blood. A fog of smoke seemed to cling to his skin.
The red eyed man gave them a slow and dangerous smile. "Ladies. A tip for the future, if you don't want to be picked out as rich you need to do more than just wear low quality clothes. Roll around in the dirt a bit before coming in next time."
"I appreciate the advice. I'll keep it in mind," the woman in the middle said dismissively. The man snorted in response.
"And maybe keep your mouth shut. The haughtiness is pretty obvious once you open it."
The woman didn't seem to react at all to that until she spoke a few moments later.
"Thank you."
There was a subtle hint that she had forced the words out which had the man in front of them smiling.
"My name's Brick. If you came out all the way out here for business, I can only assume you came to find us."
"We have yet to identify properly exactly what… or who it is we are looking for. You could potentially be the one we were looking for, yes."
Butch and Boomer flanked around the room until they stood behind the sofa to Brick's left and right respectively. All three men watched the women in front of them like hawks.
"Well, seeing as how this establishment is under our management…" Brick trailed off. The middle women frowned slightly at his words, her mouth the only thing visible from under the hood.
Brick was sure that the hoods were enchanted. If only because as soon as they had entered the floor a warning signal had been trigger. Something about the women in front of him had triggered one of his alarms and that was the only one that made sense.
The three men could feel the weight of her gaze though as she examined each one. They made no attempt to hide their magic but also no attempt to showcase it. It would keep the women from trying anything while also giving them an idea of what they could offer. A carefully maintained line that Brick had found years ago.
"We came looking for a someone, or multiple someones, with diverse skill sets who would benefit from making a deal with us," the woman to the right of the three said. Her voice was low but held no threat in it. It was sure and confident. As if the woman wasn't worried at all about how this conversation would go.
"Well, we certainly have a diverse skill set. The question is, do you think that you have something you could offer us to want to make a deal with you ladies?" Brick asked.
"We can offer you what it is that you truly desire. A chance and the position to make use of that chance. We will have conditions though," the woman on the left said.
Brick's eyes shifted to her slowly before evaluating her. He watched her for a few moments before sighing. "Quite the assumption you're making. I was expecting more than three spoiled rich brats to be honest."
"It's not an assumption," the woman on the right snapped as she leaned forward, teeth barred at the men. The woman in the middle twitched her hand ever so slightly and the woman on the right quickly pulled back. She let out a small scoff that went ignored.
"It seems that you are what we came looking for. At least, you have the potential to be. With that in mind, I have this to offer you," the middle woman said as she pulled out a pure white envelope. "It has details on it that will allow us to meet again if you have interest in a deal with us."
Brick narrowed his eyes at the women. "You haven't given any details on this deal. I have no idea what it is you want and yet you still expect me to take that?"
"You misunderstand me. This is not so we can make the deal but so that we can meet again to discuss it. I do not have enough faith that this room is properly warded for us to discuss what we need to. I do not mean that as a disrespect but simply that I am not aware of your precautions and I do not expect you to explain them to me. If you are interested in hearing more about what we can offer you, then this contains details on how to find us. I can have us discuss in a location I know is properly warded and where I will also have no problems explaining those wards to you."
The woman held out the envelope and Brick stared at it. He drummed his fingers along his thigh as he thought it over. The woman on the right shifted her weight impatiently while the woman on the left wrung her hands together slightly. Actions Brick made sure to make note of. The women wanted this deal with someone, and they wanted it badly.
"And you won't at least tell me who you are?" Brick asked. The woman in the middle frowned.
"I cannot. When you read the contents of the letter you'll likely begin to understand why. I can explain in more detail when we meet again."
Brick sighed through his nose. He could feel Butch knocking his knee slightly against the sofa, either as part of his nervous twitch or as a prompt to take the letter. Boomer was still as a statue as always, ready to accept whatever Brick decided. A second later and Brick gave in. He leaned forward to take the letter from the woman. As he did so, his fingers brushed slightly against hers.
The woman gasped lightly before abruptly pulling back from the touch. The room's temperature dropped subtly and a minty like hint entered the space.
Magic, Brick noted. Powerful winter magic. Very few in the Kingdom of Light possessed such magic. A sharp look entered his eyes as he watched the women more closely than before.
"Make sure whoever reads the letter has a good memory," the middle woman said before spinning on her heels and moving for the door, the other two immediately following after her. Boomer moved to lead them out but before he got a chance to do so, the women opened the door and walked swiftly out of the room. Boomer glanced back at Brick, but he shook his head. There was no point in following the women out. They had accomplished what they'd come for. He had no doubt they would quickly leave the bar. He'd learn nothing new from having Boomer follow them.
Boomer nodded before closing the door. They gave it a few moments before the notice that the women had left the second floor sounded.
"Well bro? What are we gunna do?" Butch asked as he plopped on the seat next to Brick. The red head glared for a moment before turning back to the envelope in his hands.
"I think the better question is, can that thing be trusted? I feel magic on it," Boomer commented as he sat down on Brick's other side.
"I'm not worried about that. Going off of what the one in the middle said before leaving I'm guessing it's spelled to destroy itself after being read. I'm also pretty sure that any attempt to dispel it will trigger it as well," Brick said as he placed the letter down on the worn-out coffee table in front of him. He steepled his hands, elbows on his knees, as he glared at it.
"So... we can trust them?" Butch asked. Brick snorted.
"I didn't see anything other than the basics. Guilt about harmless lies and the like. The worst was that the middle one stole something, but it was shaded. She's already admitted and repented for the crime. It was small too. I doubt she stole anything important."
"Squeaky clean then. Not our usual kind of customers," Boomer commented.
"Were they lying about what they can offer though? From what I could smell, they have a lot more magic than they were trying to let on," Butch asked.
Brick shook his head slightly. "I have a suspicion or two and if I'm right... then they weren't lying. In fact, they probably don't even realize just how right they were. This could be our chance. Really, really be an actual chance."
Boomer and Butch exchanged looks over Brick's head before Butch spoke up again. "Well then, what are you waiting for?"
Brick didn't move for another few moments before finally reaching for the letter. He glared at both of his brothers. "Fuck off. I don't want either of you to accidentally do something that'll trigger the magic on this before I'm done reading it."
Boomer rolled his eyes while Butch heaved a dramatic sigh as both got up and went to the other side of the room where they stood and watched their brother. He gave them a look but didn't say anything before picking up the envelope and opening it. He pulled out the letter and began reading. It was short, only about half a page long, but the more of it Brick read the wider his smile got. Once he reached the end the letter turned instantly to dust in his hand. Boomer raised an eyebrow at that.
"Pretty thorough magic on it. If it had of burst into flame a flame user could maybe stop it. Same with a lot of other methods. Having the thing just...dustify itself though removes just about every possible way of stopping its destruction."
Butch shook his head. "That ain't the important part here Boom. Look at bro's face. I'd say we hit gold."
Boomer looked at Brick before breaking out into a smile at the look on his face. The eldest brother was smiling ear to ear, something that he was almost never seen doing. Butch and Boomer could count on one hand the number of times they'd seen him smile like that.
"We definitely hit gold. This is going to seriously speed things up for us. If I'm right about who those three were..."
"Well? Who were they?" Boomer asked. Brick shook his head.
"I don't wanna say and get your hopes up only to be wrong. Even if I am right, it's not gunna be easy. We're gunna have to be smart, real smart, about our every move. Even then this could go south real quick and real easy."
"So how are we gunna play this then? What's the game plan?" Butch asked. Brick grimaced at that.
"Well, can't come up with one yet. Not a proper one at least. I don't know enough about what they want yet to do that. For the time being, we need to get more information and gain their trust. I think that should be a solid enough and loose enough first goal. I can adjust everything once we know more."
"And when will we know more?" Boomer asked.
"Three days' time. Wear your best duds my brothers. In three days' time we'll be making our way to the one and only Castle of Light."
The woman in the middle cast another glance down the street at the bar they had just left, frown clear on her face.
"Is everything okay Blossom?" the one on her right asked softly. The middle figure, Blossom, stayed silent a moment longer before shaking her head and turning to the woman.
"Everything's fine Bubbles. Come on, let's get back home before someone realizes we aren't there."
The woman on her left snorted at that. "Doubt they don't already know. Gunna be hell getting back in without them realizing how we snuck out."
Blossom sighed. "I know Buttercup, but we have to try. Come on girls, let's get home."
Bubbles and Buttercup nodded before turning to continue down the street. Blossom turned to give the bar one last look.
She was hopeful that they had truly found what they were meant to. Now it was just convincing those men that they were also going to benefit from this deal and trust in what she could see like she always had.
A shiver went down her spine as she turned to follow the other two women. She supposed there was one more thing to hope for. A deal with the devil would be the end for her potentially. Hopefully, she wasn't about to make one.
Blossom could still hear the echo of that man's voice in her head, ringing with words she couldn't believe she would ever dare to share with him, and decided quickly that she shouldn't get her hope up too much.
Like I said, no update schedule. I don't know when I'll have the next chapter up but I promise not to drop this story! I'm too excited about it. Until next time. Ciao!