xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hemlock, 4:15 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Inside of a small weapons shop called "The Lighter Fighter" in the town of Hemlock was Anatoli, Marlene and Pietro, perusing the various weapons the store was selling as an overweight man with a fez on his head was sitting at the counter, reading a magazine.
"How's this look? Think it works with my style?" Anatoli said towards the others as he reached into a barrel and pulled out a cutlass-like sword and started to swing it around in his right hand.
"What "style" are you referring to?" Marlene said with a raised eyebrow.
'"My" style!" Anatoli exclaimed in annoyance. "If I'm going to start wielding a weapon in battle, I need something "right!"' He continued.
"Before we decide what's "right" for you..." Pietro said as he approached the shirtless chimp-like wizard, removing the cutlass from his hand and placing it back in the barrel with a bevy of other weapons. "First, let's avoid causing a scene." He said with a serious tone as Anatoli rolled his eyes.
"Don't see why you guys decided to come with me shopping." Anatoli said while folding his arms.
"Thought it would help our odds if we stuck together before going on this "monster hunt" for Lil' Bern." Pietro explained.
"Also, thank you both for sticking around until I finished my dance practice before leaving." Marlene said with a small smile on her face as Pietro nodded and Anatoli looked at his fellow Psycho Circus wizard.
"No trouble to me." Pietro replied.
"It's definitely going to feel weird not having Bernie eyeballing our routines from now on." Anatoli commented.
"Yeah, it was kind of odd having to perform in front of Daphne..." Marlene said with a disgruntled tone. "Might have been easier for me mentally if Alfana was there at least." She thought.
"Be that as it may, times are changing in front of us, and we need to keep up." Pietro said, catching the two younger wizards' attention. "Going out searching for monsters and animals for Lil' Bern might be the best training we can get as of right now." He continued as Anatoli and Marlene looked at each other.
"I still can't fight but that doesn't mean I can't find other ways to help." Marlene said.
"And I want to get better in combat..." Anatoli commented before walking over to a wall that had various blunt weapons including morning stars, maces and hammers. "...Something that could work well with a Wind Magic user." He said quietly as the store owner overheard.
"Pffft..." The shopkeeper muttered as the trio turned their heads.
"What was that?" Pietro said with squinted eyes in the direction of the clerk's counter.
"Oh, don't mind me. I just love my weapons shop being turned into a library for weirdos." The shopkeeper said sarcastically as the Psycho Circus wizards made moderately offended expressions.
"Excuse me?" Marlene said with a bothered look on her face as she approached the counter. "Is this how you talk to all of your customers?" She said with a hostile look in her eyes.
"Are you "customers?"' The shopkeeper replied. "Because you've been here thirty minutes and have yet to buy a single one of my imports." He continued with a snooty tone.
"Eh..." Marlene grunted in response before turning towards Pietro. "...Have we really been here that long?" She thought while making a face towards the bald mustachioed strongman, prompting him to reach into his pocket and pull out a watch.
"...It appears he's right. We have been here a bit long." Pietro said with a calm tone.
"What the- I haven't even tried all the weapons yet!" Anatoli exclaimed in frustration.
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that you were stopping every so often after pulling out one to consult with us on if you looked cool with it..." Marlene said with a critical tone as Anatoli winced in response.
"...Aesthetics are very important!" Anatoli shouted defensively.
"Doesn't really matter when you're using the thing." Pietro said as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Are any of you done?!" The shopkeeper said loudly, catching everyone's attention. "It's almost five o'clock and I would like to close the place, but I can't while you three guild clowns are here!" He said with a frustrated tone.
'"Guild clowns?"' Anatoli, Marlene and Pietro said in surprised unison.
"...I'm taking it you are not a fan of Psycho Circus...?" Anatoli asked.
"This town is a good place for business but that don't mean I have to respect the local "freakshow."' The shopkeeper said as he continued to read his magazine.
"...Seems to me like we're not welcome here..." Pietro said. "Come on, let's go and find another weapons shop with nicer customer service." He suggested as Marlene and Anatoli nodded in agreement before heading towards the door.
However, just as they were about to leave, Anatoli turned his head to make a childish comment towards the rude shop owner but stopped himself upon seeing something in a glass case behind the man. Examining it briefly and prompting Marlene and Pietro to look at him for a moment with raised eyebrows, Anatoli walked over to the counter.
"Hey, what's that?" Anatoli questioned as the shopkeeper made a surprised expression before turning back to look at what he was referring to.
"Ohoho, you looking at this?" The shopkeeper said with a smirk on his face as he and Anatoli looked at the weapon.
Inside of the glass case was a sword with a single edged metal blade that was slightly curved forward with a yellow-ish golden inlay in the style of lightning bolts around the base of the blade. The style of the gray hilt didn't include a guard and had a rounded orb-like pommel on the end with a brown sheathe next to it in the case.
"Rarest piece of work in my entire store. The "Civata Bicagi."' The shopkeeper said with folded arms as Anatoli stared at the weapon.
"...That's..." Anatoli mumbled as he continued to look at the sword, practically entranced with it.
"That catch your eye?" Marlene questioned towards her friend.
"A sword, huh?" Pietro said as he rubbed his chin.
"I had this imported from the Alvarez Empire after the war had ended. Beautiful piece of work." The shopkeeper said. "This little round part on the pommel is actually a Lacrima." He explained as Anatoli shifted his gaze towards the store owner.
"...Go on?" Anatoli said with curiosity.
'"The guy has his teeth in him..."' Pietro and Marlene thought simultaneously.
"Lightning Lacrima, to be specific." The shopkeeper said.
"...Huh..." Anatoli muttered. "...Wind and Lightning... Storms a brewing..." He thought as he was beginning to form ideas in his head.
"Anatoli." Pietro said as he put his hand on Anatoli's shoulder, catching his attention.
"Hmm?" Anatoli mumbled as he looked at the large man.
"What's on your mind?" Pietro asked as Anatoli turned around to face his fellow wizard.
"I was just..." Anatoli said as he glanced back at the Civata Bicagi. "That's such a cool looking sword... It's different than Lady O's blade but... Maybe if I had that, I could- holy mother of..." He thought for a moment with interest until glancing at the price tag of the weapon, totaled at six hundred and fifty thousand Jewels. "...Expensive..." Anatoli said.
"Huh?" Marlene muttered as she looked at the price tag. "Yikes! That's steep!" She thought in disbelief.
"Hmmm..." Pietro said with a bothered tone as he looked at the price as well, the store owner smugly smiled at the wizards.
"By the way." The shopkeeper said, catching everyone's attention. "That's the price of the sword itself. The sheathe is sold separately at an additional fifty thousand." He said as everyone's eyes widened.
"What?!" Anatoli exclaimed.
"That's seven hundred thousand Jewels!" Marlene shouted in disbelief.
"Is that the price you paid for it or is that what you think it's valued?" Pietro asked towards the fez wearing man.
"The price of quality swords is the price of quality swords." The shopkeeper said while rubbing his chin, Pietro's eye twitching in response.
"There's not a person alive who would pay that for a blade!" Marlene shouted.
"Funny, he looks like he'd be willing..." The shopkeeper said as he pointed at Anatoli.
"Anatoli..." Pietro said as he and Marlene looked at the chimp-like wizard, seeing he is interested in acquiring the weapon.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Psycho Circus Guildhall, 5:12 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Behind the bar was Alfana alongside Camilla and Harriet, wearing an apron over her robe as a small group of acrobats and clowns stood in front of the bar with their hands outstretched, the fortune teller examining everyone's hands with her eyes glowing purple.
"Harriet, Camilla." Alfana said towards the other two bartenders. "Four shots of rum, two Bloody Mary's, one glass of absinthe and one guy wants a whole bottle of vodka." She said with half-closed eyes, prompting all of the clowns and acrobats to look at one acrobat in particular.
'"Dovini."' Everyone at the bar said while looking at the one acrobat who was sweating profusely.
"Vodka is a good way to get rid of rust off my Magic Mobile!" Dovini said in his defense as all of the women behind the bar shook their heads in annoyance.
"Whatever but you're still paying for the whole bottle." Harriet said while her beard hair turned into a pair of arms and folded themselves in a judgmental manner as Alfana sighed.
"Didn't expect you to help us out behind the bar." Camilla commented, catching Alfana's attention. "Her future readings are even able to pick out people's orders before they even tell us. That's really useful." She thought.
"I have to take my mind off that little meeting we had a few hours ago." Alfana said with a disgruntled look on her face.
"Yeah..." Camilla said in agreement as she started to grab bottles of alcohol from behind the shelf.
"Here, let me help." Alfana said as she grabbed a bottle and started to pour drinks for the guildmembers.
As the women behind the bar were hard at work, a small white bird with a witch's hat carrying a letter in its tridactyl feet had entered the guildhall through the front entrance and flew over to the area of the bar, prompting Alfana and Camilla to look up.
"Letter for Alfana O'Halloran! Letter for Alfana O'Halloran!" The bird said as Alfana raised an eyebrow while still making drinks.
"Let me get that." Camilla said as she grabbed the letter from the feet of the bird as it flew away. "Here, I'll take over." She said as she handed the note over to Alfana as she walked out from behind the bar, removing her apron and tossing it over to a nearby table.
"What now? Bad enough I have my soon-to-be time traveling hero sourpuss of a son on my mind..." Alfana thought as she begun to open her mail.
Reading the letter with half-closed eyes as she scanned the words on the piece of paper, the fortune telling showrunner of Psycho Circus' eyes widened in surprise before making a shocked expression on her face that caught the attention of Camilla. Putting down the drink she was making, Camilla walked over to Alfana to check on her.
"Everything okay?" Camilla asked out of concern as Alfana started to shake.
"C-Camilla..." Alfana said with a voice filled with quiet anger.
"Huh?" Camilla said as Alfana turned her head towards the S-class wizard. "Whoa?!" She replied loudly, prompting everyone to look as Alfana's face made her appear insane and agitated.
"Excuse me... I need to make a call..." Alfana said with a smirk of pure rage as she proceeded to quickly head in the direction of the stairwell that led to her office.
"What the hell was that? She looked like how Bernard gets when he's going crazy..." Camilla thought as she noticed Alfana left the note behind on the floor.
"Hey, Camilla, what's wrong with her?" Harriet asked as Camilla picked up the letter and begun to read it.
"Not entirely sure... But based on this, she got a refund?" Camilla said with an unsure tone and a shrug.
Meanwhile, in her office after walking away from everyone, Alfana impatiently sat at her desk with her Communication Lacrima in front of her as it blinked several times. After a few moments, Nariz from the treasure hunter guild known as Chimera's Paw had appeared on the screen.
"Ah, hello-" Mascar said until Alfana loudly slammed her fist on the table, cutting him off. "Guh!" He mentally grunted in surprise.
"What the hell happened?!" Alfana screamed. "I just got a letter from one of the banking guilds I have my money in and have been suspiciously refunded back an amount of money that just so happens to be the same as the amount I gave you guys to find monsters for me!" She angrily explained as Mascar nervously looked at her.
"Yeaaahh... About that... Lagarto! Nariz! Get in here!" Mascar said in embarrassment as two other members of the guild suddenly walked into view.
'"We're sorry!"' Mascar and the other members muttered apologetically as they all bowed their heads.
"What?!" Alfana replied in disbelief.
"We sent back the money you gave us for the job..." Lagarto said.
"I called your guild this morning! Everything was going fine, what the hell happened?!" Alfana said, demanding an explanation.
"It's a bit of a funny story..." Nariz said with an embarrassed tone.
"Do I look like I'm in the mood for a "funny story?!"' Alfana shouted as she stood up from her desk.
"Ah! I'm sorry!" Nariz replied apologetically.
"Dude, don't make her angry!" Lagarto said with a critical tone towards his fellow treasure hunter.
"Madam..." Mascar said, catching Alfana's attention. "Do you remember how during the call you requested we drop the number of creatures to pick up to half and deliver in one week rather than one month?" He said as Alfana calmed herself somewhat.
"Correct..." Alfana said while folding her arms.
"Well... We... Kind of... Sorta... Might..." Mascar said while beating around the bush. "Lost what he had... And don't have the time to find them because of the cutdown...?" He said while he and his fellow treasure hunters covered themselves with their arms.
"...You what...?" Alfana said with a vein popping on the side of her head.
"We didn't have any means to contain the monsters you asked for outside of using metal cages..." Lagarto explained.
"And after the call ended, we had a bit of an issue with moving them around because of how volatile some of the things we found were." Nariz said as Alfana's eye twitched.
"They didn't have Capture Pins so the only means they had to keep them stored was non-magical ones..." Alfana thought with frustration rising within her.
"Then they got out and made a mess..." Mascar said as he moved the Communication Lacrima to reveal a massive hole in the guildhall building, revealing the damage the creatures they had acquired for the job had caused upon fleeing.
"We had about seven or eight big things for you... Which I know isn't a lot considering the number you asked for original was high in the double digits but... You get the point..." Lagarto said with an embarrassed tone.
"And not to mention, the shortened timeline was also a factor in the decision..." Mascar commented.
'"Decision?"' Alfana questioned.
"We decided it was best to send back the down payment you gave us and cut our losses..." Mascar said nervously as Alfana's eyes widened. "We would have died trying to get those things back again!" He thought with a nervous sweat on his face.
"You know, we could have been dicks and asked to keep the money... Could have been one huge debacle in of itself." Lagarto said with a shrug.
"Like when we were looking for those Lacrima in the Boundary Forest." Nariz commented.
"That was only a debacle because you only brought four throwing knives with you into a monster filled forest, you imbecile." Lagarto said with a harsh tone.
"I like throwing knives!" Nariz said defensively.
"Yes, which is all well and good, but only having like, four of them, in a dangerous place like that is not very-" Mascar said towards his fellow treasure hunter until the call was suddenly cut off by Alfana's Communication Lacrima getting shattered.
Having used her gold and black cane, Alfana slammed it into the magic crystal ball in an act of frustration and aggravation, breathing heavily while gritting her teeth. After attempting to let loose her rage, Alfana sat down in her chair and proceeded to slam her head into her desk.
"Nnnnrraaghghh!" Alfana screamed as she began to slam the bottom of the handle of her cane weapon into the desk. "I needed those monsters for Bernard's animal show and with this time travel jaunt he's doing for the royal family; there's even less of a chance he might survive with what he has right now! This is a dramatically huge setback!" She thought as Daphne quickly rushed into the room, having overheard the noise from Alfana's office.
"Boss lady?!" Daphne said as Alfana twisted her head up to look at the glasses wearing young woman. "Heard the noise coming from the hall, something pestering you?" She asked as Alfana's eye twitched.
"...Daphne..." Alfana said as she stood up. "...You have been working on those weird alchemy projects you mentioned, correct...? Stuff with reptilian golems, right...?" She asked as Daphne looked at her boss.
"Ah! The boss lady is finally curious about my awesome Lizardmen and Dragonoid projects! I get it now! You're frustrated because it took you so long to realize just how amazing they are! Yes, yes, yes!" Daphne said, not fully grasping the agitated state of the fortune telling showrunner.
"...Would you be so kind as to summon one of those golems, please?" Alfana said with a smile that contained an insurmountable amount of malice as she began to morph her cane into one of its many forms.
"Oh, gladly! Here!" Daphne said as she looked away for a brief moment, extending her arm.
A magic circle appeared on the floor of Alfana's office as a man-size creature begun to emerge from it. Standing slightly taller than Daphne was an immobile draconian monster with green scales on the top of its body and a tan underbelly with red eyes and a red Lacrima orb in the center of its chest.
"This is one of my prototype models. After the Magic Council put a ban on my work and I had to start from scratch a number of years ago, I- aaahh!" Daphne said, attempting to present one of her Dragonoid golems until stopping to scream as Alfana proceeded to fire her shotgun cane at the Dragonoids head, removing it from its body and causing the golem to fall to the ground in pieces. "M-m-m-my Drag-drago-noid..." She said with tears in her eyes as she looked down at the destruction of one of her projects.
Putting the shotgun cane on her desk, Alfana walked over to Daphne with a bothered look on her face as she reached into her robe and pulled out a stack of Jewel banknotes, putting them in Daphne's hand.
"Wha- oh hey, there's thirty thousand Jewels right here!" Daphne said in surprise until noticing how much money was in her hands and her expression changed to one of delight.
"Here, Daphne... Have some money to make up for what I did... Because apparently, "fate" doesn't want me giving a coin towards my own family's happiness!" Alfana shouted with tears in her eyes as she walked out of her office.
"What the heck was that?" Daphne thought as she stuffed the money into her coat pocket.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Tent House, 8:02 p.m. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Insider her home was Camilla, sitting at the kitchen table as she stared at the clock.
"It's past eight and he's still not home... He's probably thinking about that whole thing earlier with this government job." Camilla thought with a worried expression on her face as she stood up. "Maybe I should have kept quiet about this whole thing from his folks, all I did was complicate things..." She thought as she walked over to the bed and sat on it.
Reaching into her back pocket, Camilla pulled out the Capture Pins she had gotten from Alfana to help Bernard acquire pets. Laying back on the bed, she held up the pins and stared at them with serious eyes.
"Pietro, Anatoli and Marlene said they were going monster hunting back in the afternoon. I couldn't go because I was busy with bartending... Hope they'll be okay. Said they'll come home in two days." Camilla thought as she wondered about her fellow guildmembers. "...Hmmm?" She muttered as she noticed the front flap of the tent house was moving and noticed a familiar pair of Celestial Spirits entered the room.
'"Honey, I'm home."' Corvus said while in midair as Vulp entered beneath him.
"If you two are here, he shouldn't be too far." Camilla said as she sat up.
"Yeaaaahh... Give him a second..." Corvus commented as he and Vulp turned their heads back towards the entryway.
"Huh?" Camilla muttered as her boyfriend and an unfamiliar individual had entered the room. "...Huh?" She thought with bewilderment and furrowed brows as she saw a rather odd sight before her.
Entering the tent house was Bernard with his clothes torn and scuffed up with some scrapes on his exposed skin while holding what appeared to be a dark green vertical oil lamp in his left arm and his right arm around the shoulder of a mysterious woman with purple cat ears, long purple hair, black heel shoes, long white gloves, a tail and a long white and purple maid uniform with a plain expression on her face, helping to keep him upright with her arms.
"Hey..." Bernard said with an exhausted tone.
"What the hell?!" Camilla said with a bothered expression on her face as Bernard moved his arm from around the maid-like woman's shoulder. "Why the hell do you look like you lost a fight?! Who's this hot girl with cat ears?! What's with the-" She said in a befuddled state until Bernard limped over to her and put his free hand on her shoulder to cut her off.
"I'll answer your questions in the morning but for now... Sleep with me..." Bernard said with exhaustion in his voice.
"Huh?!" Camilla exclaimed with a blush on her face from the words he used.
"I need some sleep, and I want to cuddle... Please." Bernard said as he raised the lamp in his hand in the direction of Vulp, who proceeded to stretch his tail and grab the lamp. "So... Very... Tired..." He thought as he slumped downward onto his knees and accidentally placed his face on Camilla's breasts. "Forget my old job as showrunner, today was new form of exhaustion inducing hell..." Bernard thought as he shifted his face to the side and rested his cheek on Camilla's boobs.
"Guh!" Camilla replied in surprise as she put her hands on her boyfriend's head. "Hold on, is there more pins in his beanie than normal? And what's with the lamp?" She thought as she looked at his hat and glanced at the lamp in Vulp's tail.
"Kid has had a long day." Corvus commented as Camilla instinctively cradled his head against her breasts as the cat-like maid looked on whilst standing nearby with her hands overlapped.
"...It would appear so..." Camilla said with a disoriented tone as she pulled Bernard over to the bed and placed him on it, propping his head on the pillow as the Celestial Spirits and the cat-like maid approached the bed to look at him. "...The explanation in the morning better be good... And seriously, who the heck are you?!" She thought as she glanced at the maid dressed woman with cat ears and a tail.
The writer seriously needs to stop taking demotivated breaks from writing, you'll never be considered a GOOD writer if you keep disappearing without telling nobody. What, you just going to go on Reddit and show off your friend's artwork of your OCs like a schmuck? PLEASE. Anatoli, Marlene and Pietro have gone to a weapon shop before heading out to go monster hunting for Bernard's pet supply and are currently stuck with a tough decision... To buy an expensive and cool looking sword or to NOT buy an expensive and cool looking sword. Hardest decision of mankind! Meanwhile, Alfana's riches seem to have hit a new crutch as Chimera's Paw have sent back the money she had sent them because they lost all of their work and there's no time with the deadline of Bernard's time travel trip looming... And speaking of Bernard, he has returned home to Camilla with an unusual companion. What happened between them from the previous chapter? What's with the lamp? Will Bernard be ready to go back in time? Find out next time on Menagerie II in four to five years!
Author's Note: (I'm sorry for the sudden breaks. Demotivation is super annoying... Also, this chapter is a cutdown, first time in a good while for the sake of pacing! Also, if you go on r/FFnet on Reddit, I have posted official artwork for Keats and Anik from my Pokémon story "Wannabe." Courtesy of the artist known as "Jraddy" who I commissioned to make them. He did a stellar job! Coming soon, you will get to see Bernard, Camilla and Marlene in his style too. Thanks for being patient. Also, if you're wondering about the sword... Look up a blade called a "Yataghan.")