One More For the Road
Chapter One: Not in Kansas Anymore
The soft echoes of a piano's final note lingered in the air accompanied by the gentle silence that permeated the small building's interior. Once it had been a rather boisterous place filled with all manner of patrons finding refuge from whatever demons the day had brought. Seeking Solace they would spend a few hours inside these walls forgetting their troubles, they might have a few drinks, make new friends, or simply reminisce on fond memories. They would chat about anything and everything, from the mysteries of the universe, the elusive pursuit of love, to what they had eaten the previous day. These times had been some of the happiest of my life, yet it was not meant to last, the fading note brought with it the end of this place as well. Tonight would be the final night the doors would open, there would be no big finale, no last grand hurrah, just one final somber note lingering into the night until that too would be forgotten.
My musings would end short with a sigh as I stared into the emptiness, it was with a heavy heart that I went about closing up shop for the final time.
"I don't suppose it's too late for one last drink, is it?" I was shocked to see a rather beautiful woman standing in the doorway. Her golden blonde hair hung matted against her from the rain, her purple evening dress, the same color as her eyes, seemed to have suffered a similar fate as well. Despite the outside chill I couldn't help but feel a bit of warmth suffuse me.
It appeared that maybe the end might not have to be so lonely after all.
"By all means, have a seat. Welcome to The Bar" I motioned for the chair in front of me, practiced movements came easily even in these final moments.
"Not a very imaginative name," she took a seat in the proffered chair, letting her head droop into her palm as she leaned into the counter with an impish grin. "Shouldn't it be something a little bit more exciting?"
"Quite the contrary actually," I grinned as well, thinking back on my very first few days struggling to think of a name that truly fit the place I wanted to create. "I think that because it's such a simple name that people find themselves drawn here. Sometimes you just need a place to rest away from the best of the world a bit, a place that's truly honest about what it is. I think that The Bar is a perfect name for the place it was."
"You may be right, I found myself here after all," she laughed softly, a laugh that If I must confess was one of the most enjoyable things I'd ever heard. "Though I couldn't help but notice you said it was."
"Yeah, tonight is The Bar's final night, which makes you it's final guest. Would you mind if I prepared you a drink tonight madam?" I asked.
"Sure, I'll leave it to you then."
Wasting no time I pulled out the ingredients necessary to make her the drink I had in mind. Something to give my final customer a fond memory.
"Did you know that around the mid 1800's most cocktails were actually served hot," I explained adding some lemon juice and sugar to the goblet I had pulled out. "This was before the ice trade had really become commonplace so it wasn't often you had cold drinks."
I added hot water to the glass as I continued my little story, stirring gently and waiting for the water to dissolve the previous ingredients.
"Now this drink was one of those original cocktails, made to be served hot." I smiled pulling out the final bottle from behind my back. "Normally it's made with a darker spirit, however tonight calls for an exception. This a bottle of Empress 1908 Gin, often meant to serve royalty, dignitaries, explorers, and important guests. It's discerning feature is it's beautiful violet color that I think matches you perfectly."
I added the final ingredient to the glass, the hot water and alcohol mixing together suffusing the air with its pleasant fragrance. Stirring once more I pulled out the final touch, a cinnamon stick placing it in the glass.
"One Gin Toddy." I said fondly as I pushed the drink gently in front of her, it's violet color almost blending in before her dress.
A moment of silence hung as she admired the drink before her, before gently reaching out and taking a small sip.
"It's delicious." she smiled before taking another sip. Time seemed to crawl to a stop as a small world was built that existed only in these walls. The sound of rain outside seemed to feel so far away as we continued to chat idly. Tales were traded back and forth, many fantastic stories she brought to bear about all manner of mythical beings. I responded in kind with stories that had happened during my service as The Bar's owner. I continued to serve her drink after drink soon joining in myself.
"You know I came here tonight because an old friend of mine mentioned you, said you were great at helping her relieve some stress." my guest explained, toying with her current drink in front of her.
"Oh? Well I do hope I was of at least some service. I aim to make everyone's day who walks through that door just a little bit better. Tell me, what has made you so stressed you find yourself here?" I worked my hands even while we conversed preparing our next round of drinks.
She seemed to contemplate the question for a while, I let her dwell on her thoughts as I poured another drink into the waiting glasses in front of us.
"I run a company, and in my work, I have a lot of difficult clients." she said slowly, seeming to pick each word with careful consideration. "I have to put in a lot of work behind the scenes to keep them happy you know, they're always causing trouble not knowing I'm the one who has to pick up after them. It can be a bit tiresome at times, and, maybe, just a little bit lonely."
"I see," I said, mulling over her words like a fine wine. Dissecting all the flavors and notes that were hidden in its depths. I could only come to the conclusion that I myself had come too, facing a similar quandary. "But you love it right?"
"Of course, I wouldn't trade away my baby for anything in the world. In fact you could even say I'd trade the very world away to keep her safe." Her laugh rang out like a crisp bell at the joke that I could not quite decipher.
"Then there you go, everything we'll do and love will come with some difficulties. That's just a fact of life,if you know you're not going to stop then all I can say is just try to make the best of it. Clouds and silver linings, all that jazz." I frowned a bit knowing that perhaps I was being a bit of a hypocrite. "Even those linings can be hard to see sometimes."
"You're quite right," she smiled softly back, probably noticing my mood dampening a bit. "I'm quite fond of clouds myself and though you may sometimes you may struggle to see the silver lining, I think there is always a bit of color to be found in them."
I nodded though I hadn't really truly understood her comment.
We continued to laugh and smile, chatting happily we lazily traversed topics until the night wore on to the very precipice of dawn.
"It was a pleasure having you as our final guest madam," I bowed, our final drinks lying empty and discarded on the counter top.
"You may call me Yukari," she said, extending her hand to me across the counter as I took it in my own. "Remember it, we might again sooner than you think. Have a nice night Lawrence."
With that she gracefully strolled out of the building, however even in her absence the room didn't feel quite so lonely anymore. One last fond memory of the place was more than I could have asked for, and was happy to receive.
I moved to the now vacant side of the bar and took a seat, placing my head on the counter and letting the warmth of the alcohol slip me into a nice rest. That night only pleasant dreams of forgotten memories soothed my weary soul.
I woke up a little stiff from the previous night, drool slightly leaking onto the bar top from my deep slumber. I yawned mightily as I pulled myself up from the chair and got ready to depart for my home and continue my sleep somewhere a bit more comfortable.
Imagine my surprise when instead of the bustle of the concrete jungle, I was instead greeted with the rustlings of a jaw dropped in shock as I took in my new surroundings trying to come to terms with the very strange turn of events. You know what, maybe I was still dreaming. I just have to pinch myself nice and good and I'll wake up from this odd dream.
Ouch, okay maybe not. So apparently myself and my bar have mysteriously been transported, somewhere? Hey on the bright side I probably wouldn't have to pay rent anymore, being in the middle of some random forest.
Wait, I wouldn't have to pay rent.
I could keep the bar open!
Previous worry all but flew from me as my mind raced with the new opportunities presented before me. Maybe all the stories Yukari had told me about divine deities had been true, it seemed like one had been gracious enough to smile down upon me. Quickly running back inside I double checked everything inside to make sure everything was in working condition, before sighing in relief as it all remained functional. A small voice in the back of my head reminded me that I should still be quite worried, but I couldn't help myself. It was like a large weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
So with a pep in my step I flipped the open sign on and made my way too stand behind the bar eager to see what surprises might lay in wait on my first day in this strange land. Little did I know things were about to get very, very strange.
I spent the first couple hours of my new day busying myself with cleaning the mess Yukari and I had made the previous evening, wiping down the counter, washing glasses, cleaning the bottles, and generally straightening the place back up.
My first visitor came about sometime around noon, the first detail that grabbed my attention was the large black hat that adorned her blonde head as well as the broom she was carrying in her hand.
Was she cosplaying as a witch or something?
"Y'know I'm pretty sure this building wasn't here yesterday," she looked around thoughtfully before turning to the still confused me. "Looking to start an incident or somethin ze~?"
"No?" I don't think I had any plans to cause any sort of trouble, perhaps my building now occupied a place it shouldn't? Also what's with that weird verbal tic?
My answer seemed to have mollified her for the time being as she broke into a grin before all but launching herself onto one of the stools.
"So what's with all the bottles behind ya?" she said spinning herself around on the barstool without a care in the world.
"Welcome to The Bar," I quickly fell back into my usual role now that the shock had worn off. It also gave me a bit more time to examine her further. "Though you look a bit young to partake in most of my drinks, perhaps a virgin daiquiri would be more suited to your tastes."
"What! I'll have ya know I'm plenty old enough to drink, pour me your strongest stuff!" she exclaimed with a loud bravado, unsuited of her tiny stature. "Also who ya callin a virgin!"
I could only sigh deeply, there were plenty of people who looked younger than they were of course but her attitude suggested she was still pretty young. Her lack of knowledge on what being a virgin meant with regards to drinks only strengthened my perception of her. However that being said plenty of countries had different laws when it came to drinking age, and I still had no idea where I had ended up. It looked like I was at fault for this one, probably.
"Of course, my mistake madam." I bowed apologetically. "Perhaps I could make you a drink, on the house of course, to make up for my rudeness."
"Well I'm certainly not gonna say no to a free drink ze~" With her acceptance I went about the task of considering what kind of drink I should serve her. Contrary to her request however I decided to shelve her strongest drink request. Something bright and sweet while still packing a strong punch would probably serve quite well however.
I took out a few bottles and began my process, placing a martini glass before me and donning a glove, I carefully grabbed a small amount of crushed dry ice and placed it into the bottom of the cup.
"This drink here is a bit of a fun one, and I think it will be perfect for a witch such as yourself." This earned me a giggle from my eager eyed guest as she watched my movements enthusiastically. Getting into it a bit, flourishing in my movements, adding a jigger of brandy to my shaker before showing off the next bottle. "This is called Viniq, it's a bit of novelty liquor but the shimmering is quite fascinating to watch."
I stirred it a bit in my hands so that the witch could watch as the alcohol shimmered brightly in the bottle before measuring out the required portion and adding it to the shaker along with one cube of ice. I shook the brewing concoction for a few seconds before straining it into my prepared glass. I then added a teaspoon of grenadine as well as one more scoop of dried ice on top to complete the drink. The top of the drink was now excitedly spewing smoke which poured onto the bar counter-top not dissimilar to a cauldron.
"Now," I said, pushing the drink in front of her while handing her a small wooden spoon. "You're going to mix the potion, once the smoke has died down you'll know it's ready to drink."
"Aye, I can brew a potion with the best of them I'll show you." She began to stir the drink, and much to my surprise she wasn't kidding, her technique was flawless.
The smoke finally settling down, she took the first sip of her shimmering cocktail. "Not bad, it was a ton of fun too."
I smiled, satisfied at the praise as I put the used bottles back on their respective shelves. Now that her drink was made it was time to ask the question that had been rattling around in my head since she got here.
"So this may sound a bit odd but, where are we?" I asked.
"The forest of magic, how do you not know where you built yer place?" The forest of magic was an odd name but in the grand scheme of things it wasn't that strange.
"Is that like in Europe or something?" Geography had never been my strong suit so I just guessed at random.
"What's Europe? No we're in Gensokyo, duh." her answer only further sunk into my confusion, she seemed to notice and a look of understanding graced her features. "Ah you're an outsider."
"What do you mean?" Hopefully I was about to get an answer that would make more sense of my current situation.
"Well Gensokyo is separated from the outside world by this big barrier thingy, sometimes things happen to pass through. Usually it's just junk that ends up at Rinnosuke's shop though, not often we get people much less whole buildings. That's not to say it hasn't happened before though." Alright so either I was being totally had or I ended up in some strange fantasy world.
"I see." Was the most eloquent response I could muster at the news.
"Dontcha worry, I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll invite some friends next time I come over kay!" she said hopping up from her seat, her drink now empty. "See ya later ze~"
I smiled and waved as she picked up the bar stool and went to leave.
Wait.
"Umm are you taking my stool?" I asked in shock.
I kid you not she stared me dead in the eyes and delivered in utter monotone.
"No."
And then proceeded to quickly bolt from the store before I could get in even another word edgewise.
I think I've just been robbed. Should I call the police? Wait, does Gensokyo have police? Why the hell did she take my stool of all things, I didn't even get her name to track her down by. Though I guess if she continues to wear that outfit she'll stand out quite a bit if I ask around. Sighing I came around to the other side of the bar to reorganize the stools back into a presentable fashion.
Well today was certainly the weirdest day of my life, and I'd had a lot of strange days in my time up until this point so that was no small feat.
"Whatever, It's still interesting I suppose." I mumbled happily to myself. It seemed even theft couldn't bring down my good mood. Just yesterday I was on the verge of losing everything, with no direction I had no idea where my life was going to end up. With the bar closing I would have had to find a new job, yeah I could have probably found a new bar to work at but it just wouldn't be the same. There just weren't many places like mine that could stay open these days, they were all about the money, gone were the old days of the classic bar it seemed. Yet here I was in a brand new land free to continue my craft, it was certainly invigorating.
Still there would be quite a few problems I would need to face in the future, while my bar may have been transported I doubt my apartment building would be here as well. Effectively homeless my saving grace was the small cot I kept in the back office when I was too tired to travel home at the end of long nights. Still clothes, baths, money, there were a lot of things I'd need to get my hands on if I wanted to continue my new peaceful life that I seemed to have found here.
Turning the sign on the store to closed, I ventured outside of my bar to explore the surrounding area and get a feel for where I was.
Still I couldn't help but feel a bit strange about how easily I was coming to terms with my new strange life.
Well whatever it's probably fine, let's see if I have any neighbors shall we.