So, here's a second chapter. Though now that I think about it, I've got more to do on my previous projects, so I'm going to see if I can do some of my earlier writing stories that I've done. Funnily enough, though the production of this chapter was before the bartending event, I sat on it for so long that the event was already done. Anyways, here's the second chapter.
I simply walked into the Angel's Share Tavern, late at night, my lips pursed. I needed a drink, of some sort. Probably not alcohol, even if I wanted to just drown my guilt with it, as I've heard many others had done.
"Hello, traveler-"
I sat down at the bar and lied down on it.
"Usually, they end up having to drink something before they come here sobbing…"
Charles looked at me, observing… whatever he was observing.
"You want a drink?"
"Non-alcoholic, please," I murmured against the table, feeling the wood used for the table against my forehead.
"You look like you came here for advice." The bartender said.
"How could you tell?" I spoke, my voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Alright, I'll get you an Athenaeum, so you can at least be awake while I'm talking to you."
"Athenaeum?" I drowsily spoke. I vaguely remember that when I worked as a bartender, as I looked up. He nodded, a pitcher of coffee in his hand, and he poured one for me.
"Here. On the house."
I stared at the black liquid in front of me, and the reflection of myself in it. I wasn't in the mood to argue to pay him, even though I did have the money to pay him, and chugged the hot Athenaeum down my throat. Immediately, I started coughing, and the bartender almost immediately gave me a cup of milk to drown it down, and cool my stomach.
"Holy…" I coughed again. "That's really really hot!"
Charles just looked at me sheepishly, and the people who were awake looked at me strangely.
"You chugged down a cup of hot Athenaeum, what did you expect?" One of the other guys said. I just rubbed my hair, embarrassment setting in.
"Hey, leave the traveler alone. He saved Mondstant, unlike you all. He's just having a bad day." Charles said sharply. The guy just retreated, going back to drinking his bottle of dandelion wine.
"Well, I'm awake now…"
My eyes felt like they couldn't close, no matter what I could do. Maybe it was the embarrassment, maybe the burning sensation of the Athenaeum, or maybe the caffeine. Either way, I was awake.
"Hmm. Good." Charles went to wash a dish in front of me, and looked at the dish before asking me, "What happened?"
I was wanting to tell someone, but at the same time, I wanted Amber to decide my fate, and what happened to me. Not someone else. Maybe it was out of me hoping she wouldn't hate me anymore. Maybe it was me being selfish. But I wanted her, if anyone, to say my punishment.
"Don't worry, I won't tell a soul." Charles took the time to look at me for a single second, before going back to cleaning his dishes.
After an awkward pause, and me looking at him cleaning the plate in front of him, I finally spoke.
"... Okay. But can we talk privately? Outside the bar."
"... Alright." He finally decided to do it, letting the plate down on the back of the bar. "Come with me."
He led me to the bar's end, and let me enter inside.
"No one will disturb us here."
I had a feeling he had done this before with someone, but I went along with it.
"So, what has happened, traveler?" He quietly spoke, in the back of the bar. I took the time to look around, seeing the barrels of dandelion wine still available.
"Amber… I've… impregnated her."
If Charles had expected anything, it wasn't that. But regardless, he looked thoughtful.
"So, let me see, it wasn't fully consensual, hence why you're so upset."
I shakily nodded.
"But, there must be a reason for why you did it, correct?" He looked at me, trust in his eyes. It was almost comforting, seeing someone who looked at me that trustingly, despite knowing what I had done.
"... Hilichurls. They… had captured her…"
I swallowed, but Charles remained calm, in front of me.
"I… couldn't let her get pregnant with a monster's child. She'd be ashamed for her life, and be shamed by the people of Mondstant. I… wouldn't want that to happen, and I was willing to pay my reputation for her."
"And yet, you're here." He quickly said. "Why don't you go to amber? To explain it to her? She would accept it, eventually, that you did it to protect her."
"Why? I… did that to her."
He gripped my shoulders tight.
"I've been at this bar for years."
He looked around, almost looking if anyone was there. "I've seen people come and go, and many even die. What I have learned over those years is how to deal with problems with infidelity, guilt, or debt, sometimes all three. Your case is squarely on guilt, so I will say what I've told many others who come into this bar to try to drown their sorrows with alcohol: you can't treat yourself as a victim. You're not someone who has to be pitied, because it's not going to have the world pity you. You need to pay for your actions, and stand strong to them."
He pushed me back and chuckled.
"What am I saying? You knew that already, didn't you?"
I looked at him with my wide open eyes, with sorrow and determination congealed into my expression.
"Then, stand up straight. You can't be sitting here all night. You've got her waiting for you, to either apologize or take responsibility."
I nodded, and quickly walked out of the back, where I was quickly greeted by… Eula.
"Huh? Traveler? What were you doing back there again?"
I didn't answer, as I walked straight past her, outside the door of the bar.
The night was still young, so I just decided to kill hilichurls till dawn, taking my anger out on any monster that I saw.
Eventually, dawn rose, and Paimon spoke, for the first time throughout the entire day.
"We should go to Amber…"
I nodded. "I am."
Instantly, I looked at the closed window for Amber's room and saw how she was still asleep, so I decided to complete several more quests, maybe to take my mind off of Amber, or maybe to wait for her to wake up.
"Hey, traveler… are you okay?"
I saw a few cuts and bruises on my body and shrugged them off. I might have been close to passing out.
"Hey, Traveler, eat something! You've got barely any health left!"
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
I quickly ate a fisherman's toast, as well as a couple of dozen bird egg sushi rolls.
As I finished the sushi, I felt energy entering my body, and I felt focus entering my body, as I breathed out, looking towards the sky.
It was time, with the sun facing me, from the tree I was resting under. I focused on going to Amber's room, and I waited outside her door. I knocked once and heard the rustling of sheets behind the door.
"Oh, who's out there?" Amber spoke gently.
"It's me. The traveler."
"Oh…" She tapered off, before I heard her open the door, and show me her face.
Instead of her normal outrider clothes, she was wearing a simple bathrobe, one that… unfortunately, didn't leave much to the imagination.
She had none of her hair accessories, but she still looked… like amber.
"Hello, traveler!" She still spoke happily to me and waved her arms for me to come in. I walked in, and she closed the door behind me. She motioned for me to sit on her bed next to me, so I did.
"Amber… um… how much do you remember?" I decided to ask the important question first, as she walked away from me.
"Honestly speaking, I remembered everything." Her voice tapered down, as she sat down next to me, and I looked at her directly.
"I remember those monsters, at first, violating me. They filled me up, and I couldn't control myself, due to the hypnosis." A few tears left her eyes, but she smiled and then held my hand.
"But then, I remember, then you, coming to save me. You, helping me, giving me a pleasurable experience, and loving me."
Her voice was shaky, and I immediately grabbed her hand, feeling it.
"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry."
"Traveler…" She lifted her hand to touch my head, and I looked up.
She gave me a small kiss on her lips, and despite the shortness of it, she still conveyed her feelings.
"Thank you. I know you do not feel happy with yourself right now, but, speaking honestly…"
She looked away, the blush on her cheeks heavy.
"I wanted you to be my first time. And even though you did hypnotize me, you made sure that I wouldn't take the blame, or hardship, of being impregnated by the hilichurls."
Suddenly, she started disrobing herself, and I immediately tried to look away. I was afraid.
"Traveler, look at me."
She quietly spoke. She didn't sound seductive or crazy, she was just how I would normally hear her. She just sounded… like herself.
I turned around and saw her naked, once again, but one thing I noticed was a red flame tattoo over her stomach.
"Wait…" I slowly approached her stomach, where the tattoo was, and touched it, feeling it.
"What's this?" I felt her stomach, against my hand, and looked up at Amber.
Amber smiled, tears falling down her face. This time, it wasn't sadness coming out of her eyes.
"Aether… I'm pregnant with your child." She touched her stomach, rubbing it.
I felt shaken by her words and almost collapsed, but she leaned down and hugged me, keeping me from falling over.
"Thank you… I know this wasn't the best of circumstances for us, but I love you, and I'm glad to carry your child."
Amber sounded happy, a feeling that made my stomach get filled with butterflies.
"How did you find out?" I spoke to Amber, her ear next to my mouth.
"Well, Barbara told me. I had come to her late at night after you had dropped me back into my room, and she found out that I was pregnant, but not with a hilichurl, but with your child."
My smile was strong until it set in.
"Wait, does the church know about it?"
Before she could answer, I heard the knocking on the door.
"Traveler… Can I talk with you and Amber?"
My eyes widened with it.
"Eula?"
And what a cliffhanger. But in all seriousness, I needed to stop sitting on this chapter, so here it is. So far, I've got Amber, Eula, Barbara, Noelle, Jean, Lisa, and Mona for Mondstant, not necessarily in that order, and his harem for that. I'll at least plan for that before I start promising all of Liyue and Inazuma, much less anything more. Anyways, I'll work on the next chapter.