This story is harder to write than I thought…Oh well, here it is after a long wait…

Looking around, the waiter noticed a man sitting nearby, his head down on the table. The waiter sighed, shaking his head. It was him again…

Walking to the man, he gentle shook him awake. "Sir…" he said.

Onion awoke with a jolt. "Whassit…?" he asked, his speech slightly slurred.

"Sir…"

The drunken man slowly got up, only to sit back in his chair again. "Gimmie another bottle of sake…" he muttered.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but until you pay for your other bottles, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Ah, c'mon…"

"I'm sorry, Sir, but…"

"Maybe you should let him have his drink," a feminine voice said. Turning around, the waiter came face to face with a lady dressed in elegant clothing, a middle-aged man standing behind her. What was really noticeable, however, was the triangle on her forehead.

'A sorceress,' the waiter thought.

Pulling out a small sac of gold, she handed it to the man. "This should be more than enough to pay for his bill, as well for whatever else he asks for. Now, please go get him another bottle of sake, as he asked."

The waiter bowed slightly, leaving them, as the sorceress sat at the table, the place right across from Onion.

"Thanks," he mumbled. Looking up, he too noticed the triangle on her forehead. In the depths of his mind, he registered that she was a sorceress, but his thoughts were too clouded to make much of it.

"It was nothing," she replied, tucking her long, chocolate hair behind her ear. "May I inquire your name?"

"Onion…Onion Glace."

"People refer to me as Lady Pomme de Terre. A pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, yeah," Onion replied, lazily waving his hand. He wasn't in the mood.

As the bottle of sake was brought over, Lady Pomme de Terre watched the man open it, drinking about a quarter of it in one swig.

He let out a breath, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"May I ask why you're drinking so much?" the sorceress questioned, trying to start a conversation.

"Aw, my brat kid was givin' me a hard time."

"Oh. You're married?"

"You could say that…my wife passed away, though."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yeah…But that was a few years ago…" He took another swig from the bottle. "Ever since then, I've hada raise my two kids myself…"

"Oh? You have two of them?"

"Yeah. Two boys. My older one, Carrot, is the biggest pain in the…" He stopped, taking another drink from the bottle. "Scary thing is, he's acting more like me everyday, and I don't want that to happen…"

Lady Pomme de Terre leaned on the table. "What about your other boy?"

Onion put the bottle of sake down on the table. "Marron? Oh, he's a great kid…beautiful boy, really."

"Oh?"

"Yup! Looks a lot like his mother. Acts a lot like her, too. He's very intelligent, and gifted as well."

"Gifted? How so?"

"His magical abilities. Just like his mother."

Lady Pomme de Terre's interest seemed to perk up. "Magical abilities?"

"Yup. Ya see, Apricot, my wife – rest her soul – was an Eastern Magic user. Recently, though, we discovered that Marron was one too."

"Pois," the sorceress called over. The man standing behind her came up to her, and she whispered something in his ear. He nodded, leaving them for a moment.

Looking back at Onion, she said, "Tell me more about Marron."

"What's there ta say? He's a great kid…kinda a wimp when he was younger, though. He's growing out of that. I know he'll be a strong person…just like his mother was. He won't end up like me, that's for sure. Unlike his bum brother…he's already getting there…"

Pois returned, handing his mistress what seemed to be a document. Taking it from him, she turned back to Onion. "Well, I believe it is time Pois and I returned home."

She and Onion both got up. "Yeah…I suppose I better be getting back home as well. Thanks for…paying my bill…I wish there was some way to pay ya back…"

"Actually, there is." She handed him the document and an ink quill. "Just sign this. It's a contract. It allows me to request one thing from you, and you will be required to give it to me, no questions."

He took the writing utensil and the contract. "Sure thing!" he replied, scribbling his name in the right spot. He didn't even bother to read the paper. "Just one thing, right?"

"Right. One thing."

"Okay then." He handed her back the document. "Thanks again." And with that, he turned and walked out the open door.

She smirked suddenly, looking back down at the signature on the piece of paper. "No," she said quietly, "thank you, Onion Glace."

TBC

"Pois" is pronounced PWA. It's French.

Yeah…Okay…Please review!!