Part 1: Quincy and Adam

“God damn am I hungry. When the fuck are we getting there?” Nerva questions.

We’ve been on the road for a couple of hours now on our way to Milan. The roads have been pretty clear and Warren still drives like a madman but despite these things, the journey is taking a lot longer than any of us imagined and we’re suffering for it. We definitely should have brought more food and water for the trip. The worst part is that Warren won’t allow us to take any pit stops in the small villages we drive through. He must really want to get to Milan to find this informant. If this informant doesn’t have the information Warren wants, they’re most likely going to die. We’re all hungry, cramped, tried, and worst of all, I can’t read since it’s getting dark. It’s sunset outside so it’s probably going to become nighttime in a few minutes.

“We’ll be there soon. Just hold on Nerva” Warren assures though he sounds a bit irritated.

“Warren,” Adam says to him.

He doesn’t respond.

“Warren,” Adam says again. “I gotta go to the bathroom”

“Can’t stop. I keep telling you guys we gotta get there as soon as possible. We’re almost there.” Warren finally replies.

“B-but I gotta go now”

“You better not go in this car Adam. You’re my friend but I am not afraid of abandoning you in the middle of the woods”

“We should just do that anyway” I chime in.

“Y-you guys are joking right?” Adam asks.

Neither Warren nor I respond.

“...oh” Adam whimpers.

“Great now I’m fucking tired.” Nerva complains.

“I thought you were hungry?” Adam inquires.

“I am, but now I’m fucking tired. Maybe I can sleep off the hunger or some shit. Adam be my pillow”

“W-what?”

I turn around in my seat to see Nerva attempt to use the entire backseat as a bed. Adam jumps immediately out of his spot and is now laying on the ground of the car.

“What the fuck Adam?” Nerva angrily questions.

“I-isn’t you laying on my lap embarrassing and weird? Mostly weird?”

“No, you. . . made it weird. . . fucking pervert” Nerva retorts hesitantingly.

“B-But how? You’re the one who suggested it, how am I the pervert?”

“Because fuck you, that’s why”

“I-I don’t think that’s an explanation”

Before I get to witness anymore weird Adam-Nerva banter Warren tries to break them up like a tired father who has loud children in the back of his car.

“You two stop fighting. If you two keep at it I’m turning this car around.” Warren threatens.

“Ugh fine but he fucking started it” Nerva says pointing at Adam.

“... But I didn't,” Adam retorts.

“HA!” is all I add to the conversation.

I find the whole thing hilarious, but we gotta get out of this car soon or we all might kill each other. By each other, I mean team up to kill Adam. Eventually Nerva does go to sleep and once again Adam spends a good portion of the journey on the ground out of embarrassment and fear. Luckily only another hour passes before we finally reach our destination. It’s completely dark now so it’s not too easy to see the town of Milan. I can make out some impressive looking structures however as we drive our way down a few cobblestone roads. The roads are lit by some old looking light posts. The buildings are quite small and made of stone. It reminds me of ancient Roman architecture that I saw in illustrations back in high school. The streets are themselves pretty empty with only a few carriages to share the roads with. Guess this place doesn’t have a nightlife. After going around in circles for a bit Warren makes this huge sigh and takes out a map.

“Hey Nerva can you look at this map and guide me to where East 7th Street is? That’s where the tavern we’re supposed to go is but I can’t find it.” Warren requests.

“Why I gotta do it?” Nerva shoots back instantly.

“Because last time I checked you can create a light with magic so you’ll have the easiest time reading it. In case you haven’t noticed it’s dark outside” Warren reasons.

“Oh… ok, I got this shit”

Well that was weird. Nerva doesn’t hesitate at all, at least in things not related to her having a weird discourse with Adam. She grabs the map and opens it. To see she snaps her right hand to create a small fire on her right index finger.

“You. . . ugh. . . gotta take a right and shit.” Nerva informs.

“You sure? You don’t sound too confident” Warren asks turning back at her with a concerned expression on his face.

“.... Shit you right. Ugh. . . take a damn left up here and. . . shit. . . .” she mumbles to herself.

“Nerva are you ok?” Adam asks in a worried tone.

“Yeah I’m fine fuck you. Quincy you read this shit since you read all them damn books” Nerva orders, handing me the map while she hovers her lit hand over my head.

I take a look at it and I have no idea why she had trouble reading the map. The town isn’t very big, so it was easy to find the street we needed to get to. I see that we’re right next to a huge fountain in the middle of the town and easily trace where we’re supposed to go from there.

“Warren go straight for 4 blocks, take a right, then after 2 more blocks take a left. We’ll be there after that” I instruct.

Warren drives the car and an awkward silence fills the car. After about two minutes Adam decides to break it.

“Nerva… do you not know how to read?” Adam inquires.

“Course I can fucking read shut up!” Nerva commands.

“Then why didn’t you read the map?”

“. . . Fuck you Adam” she mutters.

Well that explains it, she couldn’t find the street we needed to get to because she couldn’t read the words. I would be more surprised but it makes sense now that I think about it. I’ve never seen her read anything. Everytime she ordered something at Dragon’s Descent she would point at a picture on the wall or would make Adam order. Things are getting pretty tense here now, we really do need to get out of this car. Fortunately Warren finally parks the car and tells us we’ve arrived. Adam rushes out of the car, heading into the building ahead of us. I can’t tell if he wanted to get away from Nerva or to pee. Probably both. We all follow to see that the tavern is a huge and busy place. It reminds me more of a saloon. There’s a guy playing piano to our left in the corner, in the center of the room is a huge clearing where people are dancing to the music. Behind the clearing there is a stairwell that leads upstairs to what I presume are some bedrooms. There’re tables in front of us where I see people drinking and playing some card game. Finally there is a tiny bar where the bartender is serving out drinks to people at a counter situated ahead of the piano. So this town does have a nightlife, it’s just all concentrated here.

“Warren, who exactly are we looking for?” I ask as we all make our way to an empty table.

“I have no idea. He’s supposed to come to us. I think he’s supposed to know who we are by seeing the bag of gold. . . which I just realized Adam is holding” Warren laments.

Since Warren, Nerva, and I have entered this place we haven’t seen Adam. If he really did run to the bathroom then he must be upstairs.

I sigh and tell them,

“Ok I’ll go find him. I’m sure he’s upstairs somewhere.”

I awkwardly pass by people in order to go upstairs to try to find the bathroom. Upstairs I see some girls in dresses talking to some guys who appear to be very drunk. Suddenly one of the girls came up to me.

“Hey baby, are you looking for a good time?” she asks.

“You got a book?” I ask in return.

“Um. . . no?”

“Then I’m not interested. Begone, thot.” I tell her, shoving her out of the way.

I proceed to walk into a dimly lit hallway where a question comes to mind. She works here, why didn’t I ask where the bathroom is? Oh well, too late to go back now, I have to avoid social awkwardness.

“Adam!” I call out.

I don’t get a response besides the mumbling of guys with prostitutes.

“Adam!” I call out again.

Still no response, dang it, I'm gonna have to check the rooms. I open one door and see that it’s an empty bedroom. Whelp he’s not here. I open the next one to see a guy standing over an unconcious girl. He has a knife in hand with blood on it.

“Hi there friend, wanna play a game?” he says in a creepy voice.

“Nah man I’m good” I responded, closing the door.

Nope, ain’t dealing with that shit. I got important things to do. I try a third door and finally I’ve found the bathroom. To no one’s surprise it’s freaking disgusting, everything is dirty. It’s also really small too, there’s only one stall and a dirty sink. There is also a small window near the stall that’s open. Good because this place needs to be aired out. It stinks.

“Adam! You in there?” I holler, banging on the bathroom stall.

I don’t get a response. I’m getting pretty annoyed at trying to find Adam so I kick the stall down. I look inside to see that it’s empty. Dang it, he’s not here. This place better not have many bathrooms in it. I sigh in exasperation and decide to look out the window for a bit as a break. In the street I swear I see a man carrying Adam like he abducted some princess.

“Quincy! Help!” Adam yells.

The guy carrying Adam starts to run down the street.

Adam how did you get yourself into this situation? My hatred for you grows. I leap out of the window, landing in the streets below. Ow my knees, I should have used more of my aura. Putting the mild pain aside I start to run after them at a full sprint. I thought with all of the training I’ve done it’d be easy to catch up but this guy is really fast, even when carrying the excess weight known as Adam.

“Adam you can at least try to free yourself!” I wail as the guy takes a right, going down a different street.

“I’m trying! He’s very strong!” Adam yells back.

“Use your knife dumbass!”

“I-I can’t! I can’t reach it!”

“Adam God Dammit!”

As I continued to chase them I picked up a nearby rock and threw it at the guy as hard as I could using my aura enhanced strength. It’s a direct hit to the back of the head. However it had no effect. Adam’s abductor continues to run unaffected even as blood pours down his neck. Seeing this made Adam scream. After taking a few more turns he stops in the middle of the town where the huge fountain is. Great, this guy made me go backwards.

“Government dog!” he yells, slamming Adam’s back onto the rim of the fountain.

Adam drops to the ground, screaming in pain. Seeing this I sprint forward, quickly closing the distance. I wind up a punch, hoping to knock this man’s lights out in one blow but suddenly a bolt of electricity shoots out his right hand, hitting me square in the stomach. Feeling an immense shock I’m thrown back a dozen feet, back to where I originally was. I try to get up but my muscles won’t listen. My whole body is quivering as a sharp pain shoots throughout my body. I’m at least able to get on my knees to see Adam’s abductor slowly approach. From top to bottom he’s wearing a blue ushanka hat, a deep ocean blue parka, poofy grey wool pants, and finally grey furry boots. His skin is pale with bright emerald eyes. He clenches his hands as electricity surges on top of them. Stopping six feet away from me he says,

“You’re the second hero!? I expected so much more from Creon’s lapdog.”

“W-who the hell you calling a lapdog?” I utter, trying to get on my feet.

“You, of course. You and the first hero have been sent here to crush the will of Ayana’s people have you not? You are here at the behest of Creon. A mere weapon for the government to oppress the people. I won’t let you. I’m the people’s champion. I’m Juvenile and I will destroy you for the cause.”

After fighting through the pain I’m finally able to stand up. To be honest I wasn’t really paying attention to whatever this guy’s on about. I really don’t give two shits. I only care about the insult he gave me.

“I’m gonna stop you right there. First off, I’m nobody’s bitch so let’s make that clear. Second off, I don’t really care about this whole rebellion. I’m not from this world so I couldn’t give less of a damn. I know your people are starving because of Creon or something but that’s none of my business. In fact if you could get me home right now I’d be out of your hair.”

Juvenile looked at me all askance, wondering if I was being serious or not. Behind him Adam is getting up. His left hand is placed on his right shoulder emitting a green light, letting me know he’s healing himself.

“Now don’t get me wrong. I’m still kicking your ass.” I continue. “You messed up once you attacked me so it’s too late to stop me from beating your head in. Just know when I do I’m doing it because I want to, not because Creon told me to.”

Juvenile smirks, cracking his knuckles as electricity starts to surge around his entire body.

“You’re not what I expected but I’m intrigued. Give me a good fight you government dog. Prove that you're worthy of fighting the people’s champion.”

“You’re conceited you know that? You talk too much. Ain’t no one trying to hear all that. Shut up.”

All of a sudden Juvenile disappears from view. I sense something to my left so I turn my head only to get hit by an electrified punch. My whole body stings once again as I stumble. My left cheek hurts the most. It’s a hot burning sensation.

“Quincy!” I hear Adam call out.

I put my arms up to guard as electricity appeared all around me like I was in the middle of a thunderstorm. My body starts getting hit from all over. My back, my forearms, my head, my legs, all are hit within the span of a few seconds. This guy is fast. It’s like I’m taking on a whole crowd of people. I increase my aura to bolster my defense.

“Come on dog! Show me something!” Juvenile taunts.

I throw a punch where I heard the voice but he disappears, reappears to my side and kicks me in the head. The blow makes me step back. I resume my turtle defense. This guy has got me surrounded. I don’t know how to get out of this. The pain in my body is becoming unbearable. It wants to shrivel up. When I felt like I was on my last legs the attacks stopped. I put my arms down to see that a blue transparent dome is over me. I look around in confusion. Juvenile is on the outside, his punch having been stopped by the dome. His face looks as confused as mine.

“Quincy!” Adam yells.

I turn my attention towards him to see his hands aimed at me, emitting a blue glow. Did Adam summon the barrier? He can do that!? Since when!? Juvenile notices this as well, staring down Adam with killer intent.

“And here I thought I could let you live.” he grunts.

“Eep!” Adam squeaks.

Did this boy just eep?

Juvenile disappears in a bolt of electricity, reappearing in front of Adam in a split second. Adam tries to jump away but is uppercutted in the stomach, causing electricity to surge through his body. Juvenile follows up with an overhead punch, forcing Adam to the ground. The blow causes the dome around me to disappear. I zip to them. Juvenile was about to stomp on Adam’s head when I gave him a one-two combo to the stomach.

“Ack!” Juvenile coughs, bending forward.

I hit him with a right hook to the dome of his head, sending him into a nearby light post. With Juvenile forced away I check up on Adam. His eyes are closed so he must’ve been knocked out. I slap him a few times hoping to wake him. Nothing happens. Frustrated and with no other options I threw him into the fountain assuming water would do the trick. It does as he springs up, eyes wide.

“AHHH! Quincy I had a horrible nightmare where we were fighting some weird electricity guy! It was awful and so painful!” he sputters.

“Nah that was real.” I reply.

“W-what?”

“Yeah it’s happening right now. He’s right there.”

I point at Juvenile who’s gotten up. Blood is coming down the side of his head due to my blow.

“Ah he’s real!” Adam cries.

“It appears I am the lucky one. You two are worthy challengers for me. My partner got the short end of the stick. She has to handle your friends while I get to rip you two to shreds. Your heads will be put on pikes for all to see.” Juvenile announces.

He starts to slowly sway from side to side, like he was building up momentum for something

“Quincy, what do we do?!” Adam screams in my ear.

“We beat this guy obviously!” I shout back.

I get into my boxing stance as Adam steps out of the fountain. Juvenile continues to sway as electricity forms around his body. All of a sudden he disappears in a flash of light.

Like before, I sense something. I look up to see Juvenile. He reaches his hands down, grabbing our heads with each hand. Electricity courses through our bodies, making my insides feel like they’re being boiled. Adam and I scream in agony but I fight through it, grabbing the arm that held my head. Juvenile’s eyes widen at the feat. With him in my grasp I punched upwards, hitting him square in the nose. I felt it break as he shot up, laughing maniacally. He disappears in another flash of light.

“Adam you alive?” I ask, looking down.

Adam slowly gets up where I see a black mark on the side of his head. Must be from the electric shock.

“Unfortunately” he whimpers.

He takes out a healing potion, chugs it. He offers me another one which I down in an instant. We need to figure out how to beat this guy. He’s faster than us. He can wear us down by using hit and run attacks since we’re bound to run out of healing potions. Those hits I landed were lucky shots since he was distracted by Adam. In my peripheral I see a flash of light.

“Adam, shield!” I command.

At once Adam erects a blue dome around us as Juvenile charges in from my left side. He begins punching at the bubble rapidly. He punches so much that small cracks are beginning to form at the area of impact on Adam’s shield. It looked like glass that was slowly about to break.

“Quincy, he's about to break through!” Adam warns.

“I’ve noticed!” I holler.

Come on Quincy think! You’re somewhat smart. He has to have some weakness to exploit. He uses electricity right? It gives him his strength. Turn that into a weakness. I notice the fountain behind us. That’s it! Use water. Can I use the fountain itself? No, not possible. Juvenile has to know water’s a weakness so he’d avoid the fountain at all cost. If I try anything that would tell him I’m trying to put him into the fountain’s water he’d zoom away.. Where can I find a large body of water he’s not expecting? My eyes dart all over the place. I gotta find somewhere quick. Adam’s shield’s about to break down. I was about to give up when I noticed a manhole in the street. I got a plan.

“Adam lower it” I ordered.

“W-what!?”

“Just do it!”

The shield disappears, allowing Juvenile’s punches to approach us. I reached my left arm out and luckily grabbed his wrist. I yank it forward which causes him to stumble towards us. I raise my free arm, form a fist. I punch downwards on the back of his head so hard it bashes through the earth causing Adam, Juvenile, and I to fall through. When we land I feel myself surrounded by water. I quickly get up, completely drenched. Examining my surroundings I see that my gamble was right. We’re in the sewers. Water is up to my waist and the smell is awful. Much worse than the bathroom at the tavern. Adam rises next to me, spitting out water.

“Ewwwww Quincy why?” Adam asks.

“That’s why” I say, pointing ahead.

Juvenile springs up from the water as wet as us. He checks his surroundings, immediately realizing where he is.

“Well I’ll be damned.” he comments.

“Yeah ain’t so tough without your electricity huh? It’s over now. ” I taunt.

“No it’s just that….I’m surprised you thought you could beat me.” He hisses.

Despite being in water that goes to our waists, Juvenile charges as quickly as if we were on land. He’s not using electricity however, it’s pure strength. He closes the gap between us, throwing a punch my way. I raise my arms to block but he redirects his attack, switching arms to hit Adam square in the jaw. Adam is flung back, leaving me on my own. I try to elbow Juvenile in the nose but he ducks, throwing a hook into my rib.

“For the cause!” he yells, throwing an uppercut.

He’s fast but he’s manageable now. If my opponent isn’t faster than the speed of light my eyes can track him. I step back, making the attack whiff. I throw a straight into his chest, making him step back. I rush in, unleashing a volley of punches. It’s Juvenile’s turn to be on the defensive. He puts his arms up in defense as I throw punch after punch. His defense is weak. My punches are getting through his defense and I can feel his forearms shattering as I hit harder and harder. Seeing he had to switch tactics he puts his arms down, leans his head to dodge a punch. Suddenly he headbutts me, shooting my head back. Next thing I know I’m kicked in the stomach, falling into the sewer water. I try to get up but I feel hands wrap around my throat and start to squeeze.

“Revolution is coming, government dog! The people have spoken! This state’s corruption will end and no one shall stop it! You will not stop the cause!” I faintly hear above me.

Great he’s going on about stuff I don’t care about again. This guy just won’t shut up! Full of anger I grab his wrists and using aura enhancement, squeeze so hard I hear the wrists snap. This forces Juvenile to get off me. Now free I get back to my feet. He’s standing 5 feet away, his arms slack, his face full of anger. The sewer water below us is calm as we stare each other down like we were about to have a shootout. I get into my boxing stance.

“Your move, dog” he beckons.

I step forward, throwing a punch. He dodges, tries to kick me in the head but his foot is stopped by a blue transparent square that appeared to my side. Without a moment’s hesitation I throw a jab, hitting Juvenile in the head again.

He recovers, throws a kick with the other foot, aiming for my body. Once again a blue square appears blocking the blow. I rush Juvenile, hitting him with multiple punch combos. Every time he tries to fight back the blow is blocked again. Deciding it was time to deal major damage I hit Juvenile in the jaw with a right hook, breaking it. As his jaw dangles he attempts to say something but it only comes out as a weird gurgling sound.

To finish the fight I uppercut him in the roof of his mouth, causing his upper teeth to fly out. He flies about five feet into the air before landing back into the water. His body surfaces but is faced down, floating down to who knows where. With the fight finally over I try to catch my breath.

“Quincy!” Adam yells from behind.

I slowly whirl around to see Adam regroup with me, wiping blood away from his mouth. Without saying anything I get out of the sewer’s water, getting onto the side of the sewer along the wall and sitting down. Adam follows suit, plopping down next to me.

“Quincy... did that really just happen?” Adam asks, breaking the silence.

“Yep”

“Hey I didn’t pass out or cower did I?”

“Well you did get knocked out, but it wasn’t out of fear so that’s progress”

“I-I actually helped didn’t I? Nerva forcing me to learn defensive magic was really helpful.”

“Yeah I suppose you did as much as I don’t want to admit it.”

“D-does that mean you like me now and are going to respect me?”

“No.”

“Oh…..”

I would tell Adam that I’m impressed with him and would say thank you for the help but I’m worried he’d change dramatically and become a cocky jerk if I did. Instead I’ll be nicer to him, but only marginally.

“Hey Adam next time you get into an argument with Nerva, I think I’m gonna be on your side.”

I look at him and he has this huge smile on his face but the fact it’s beat up makes it look awful.

“Quincy you really are my friend” he says jovially, giving me a hug.

“Adam if you don’t let go of me right now I’m breaking you” I threaten.

“Just let me have this” Adam retorts.

After that horrible hug we continue to sit in silence for a few more minutes. After getting some energy back I decided it was time to go.

“Ok we’re done here. Heal us, get the money that’s by the fountain and let’s get the hell outta here.” I order.

Adam uses his healing magic on us and we drink a few more healing potions. The pain is still there, but nowhere near as bad as before. We head to a nearby ladder to head out of the sewer. Now topside Adam retrieves the bag of money and we begin walking back to the tavern when a thought occurs to me.

“Adam we need to run!” I exclaim.

“Oh no why?” he asks, puzzled.

“I just remembered that guy said something about his partner attacking Warren and Nerva. We need to get going now!”

“Ugh ok yeah let’s go!”

Adam and I start to sprint back into the night, worried about the fate of Warren and Nerva.

Part 2: Warren and Nerva

With Quincy gone to retrieve Adam, Warren and Nerva sat at their table in silence as the sound of the music and conversation filled the room. Warren starts to scan the room, wondering if the informant was already there. Perhaps he could spot them from the crowd and confront them. He thought about just forcing the information out of him, keeping the money for themselves. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to play nice. Unfortunately Warren couldn’t see anyone that stood out. Everyone was equally happy, equally under the influence of booze. Might have to get violent. Going from man to man until-

“Hey Warren ain’t it taking them way too damn long?” Nerva asks, breaking his concentration.

“I’m sure they’re fine. I know Quincy would want to come back as soon as possible so I’m guessing Adam’s in the stall, preventing him from getting the money” Warren suggests.

“I thought Adam was only bitchin’ about needing to take a piss?”

“Maybe you scared him so badly he needed to take a shit” Warren jokes.

Nerva bursts out laughing at the thought. It didn’t take much to make her laugh. Any joke made at someone else’s expense made her laugh. It was actually the only thing that made her laugh. After about a minute Nerva finally calms down.

“Ughhhhh I’m bored. Hey Warren you wanna start cracking heads until we find this bitch?” she proposes.

“I thought about it. But if he’s not here and word gets out we’ve beaten everyone up he probably won’t show. We’re better off waiting for him to come to us.”

“Well I gotta do something before I die of boredom.” Nerva complains.

“You down for a drink?”

“Oh hell yeah!”

They get out of their seats and head towards the bar, sitting down on some barstools. The bartender is a young girl who appears to be in her early twenties. She has black hair in a bob cut with light brown eyes. Her outfit consisted of black barista vest placed over a long sleeved white collared shirt. Warren can slightly see below the waist to see she has on black slacks. Her presence threw Warren off. She didn’t appear to be the type to work as a bartender. Something about her demeanor threw him off but he quickly cast the thought aside. Maybe like him, she made poor life choices.

“Hi there what can I get ya?” she asks Warren.

“I’ll just have an old-fashioned. My friend here will take a whisky sour” he orders.

“Her? Are you sure she can handle it?”

“Yeah bitch I can handle it. Can you pour it?” Nerva angrily interjects.

The bartender appears angry but only for a brief moment, quickly smiling once more.

“Ok coming right up” she says.

She pours the drinks and hands them over. Before gulping it down Warren pauses. Once again something felt off. Why was that? It’s not like he was afraid of getting drunk. He couldn’t get drunk unless he allowed it to happen. He looks at Nerva who’s already downed her drink in an instant. He waits to see if anything strange happens but nothing occurs.

“Hey aren’t you gonna drink yours?” Nerva asks, noticing Warren’s hesitation.

“Yeah” he says, pouring the drink down his gullet.

It didn’t taste good. Had a weird sour taste. Suddenly his eyes felt very very heavy and his vision was getting blurry. He got out of his chair, trying to draw his weapon but collapsed to the ground, not moving a muscle.

“Warren!” Nerva yells, getting out of her seat to check on him.

She examines his body, quickly realizing he’s still alive when the bartender starts to chuckle.

“Looks like he can’t hold his liquor” she comments.

“That’s bullshit! Warren can’t get drunk! What’d you do to him!” Nerva asks.

The music that reverberated throughout the tavern abruptly stops. A crowd of people start to surround Nerva, revealing they carried small knives. Others witness the event and quickly start to exit the building until only Nerva, the bartender, and the armed group remain. A man closes the entrance and locks it.

“Well if it wasn’t the alcohol I suppose it was the sleeping powder I put into his drink that did it.” the bartender reveals.

“Wake him up, bitch! Unless you want to get your ass beat!” Nerva threatens, ignoring the group of armed people around her.

“What a proposal. I will have to decline” the bartender replies, walking away from the bar to the stairs.

Nerva stares, wondering what the woman has planned. Why did she make Warren go to sleep? What’s her endgame?

“You a rebel?” Nerva questions.

The bartender stops at the top of the stairs, sits down with her legs crossed. Emitting an aura of smugness she says “Why, yes I am! You’re smarter than you look! Did you also figure out that this was all a giant trap? We knew the second hero’s party was coming ahead of time. The traitor isn’t as smart as he thinks he is. We knew of his plans to betray the rebellion. It made setting up this trap quite easy and splitting you all up even easier.”

“Why’d you put Warren to sleep?!”

“Oh that’s because I’m a kind person. Your friend is asleep because I have no quarrel with him. I'm a magician you see, specifically an illusionist sub-class. I can control the dreams of others by linking our sub-consciousness. Right now your friend is experiencing bliss. You have me, Teena Marie to thank for that.”

The bartender raises her right index finger, revealing a thin red string tied to the end of it. It goes all the way down the stairs to Warren’s body. Nerva sees that the other end is wrapped around Warren’s right index finger.

“We’re connected now. Anything that happens to me happens to him and vice versa. Don’t worry, I’ll only remain linked with him until he starves to death. He’ll pass on peacefully. It won’t be the same fate for you.” she explains, pointing an accusatory finger at Nerva.

“I know all about you Nerva Matia Aquila Remeli. You’re nobility. You’re privileged. If there’s anyone I hate, it’s nobility. This rebellion exists to destroy the privileged and corrupt who squash the throat of the common man. It’s why you will meet a painful end. I wish it was only you who’d die violently but alas, my partner is a violent man so I can only allow one person to pass on peacefully.”

Nerva starts to laugh. That was the funniest thing she heard in a long time.

“Ahahahah bitch. I live under a desk.” she confides.

“Yes, I’ve heard but that was solely because of your own actions. Everyone has heard of the girl exiled from the Remeli family because she was a troublemaker. But that doesn’t matter to me. You’re still privileged. You grew up in luxury while all of us grew up in poverty. That in itself is unforgivable.”

“Heh you assholes really don’t get it. I didn’t get kicked out of my family, I left. Being rich ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. I hate those smug rich assholes as much as you do, especially my folks. But none of that matters. You motherfuckers attacked us, so I’m burning all of you.” Nerva retorts with a smile.

She cracks her knuckles, making the group that had surrounded her slowly back up, unsure of what’s about to happen.

“You truly are insane. There’s no way you’re beating everyone in here.” Teena Marie remarks.

“Ha! Beating up crowds of assholes is what I do for fun!” Nerva yells excitedly.

“Kill her! For the cause!” Teena Maria commands.

“For the cause!” the crowd chants, charging at Nerva.

As a few get close Nerva jumps into the air, kicking one assailant in the head, knocking them out instantly. After landing she begins to move, darting from left and right to dodge their attacks. There appeared to be about 20 in all. All of them were planted amongst the crowd, waiting to reveal themselves. They really did walk into a trap.

As Nerva moved, the piano started to play once more. She wished she could ignite the whole multitude on fire but unfortunately, that would end up hurting Warren so she can only focus on melee attacks for now. That didn’t mean she couldn’t use her magic. She jumps onto a nearby table, igniting her fists.

A man comes close seeking to stab her in the legs only to be met with a fire punch to the face. Nerva leaps into the crowd, punching left and right with her flaming fists. People continue trying to attack her but she’s too agile, moving in between legs, under tables, over tables, and around people with ease. The scene looked chaotic but everything Nerva did, she did with precision, looking like a fiery tornado as she fought. Her assailants continued to fall one by one. They couldn’t keep up with Nerva. She was simply too fast.

The hunters were quickly becoming the hunted. Teena Marie saw the whole thing play out but she wasn’t deterred in the slightest. Soon it was just Nerva on the floor, surrounded by unconscious bodies. The piano player stopped his tune and quickly ran up the stairs past Teena Marie, leaving only the two women left. Teena Marie claps as Nerva pants heavily from fighting so many people.

“That was quite the show. You’re stronger than I thought.” she congratulates, standing up.

“Glad you enjoyed it bitch. You are about to join them” Nerva barks, heading up the stairs.

Meanwhile Teena Marie starts to descend, meeting Nerva halfway.

“I’m not much of a fighter. I only take recreational martial arts as a means to stay in shape. But I think I can handle you privileged girl.”

Out of the blue Teena Marie throws a kick, knocking Nerva down the stairs. At the bottom Nerva quickly rolls back onto her feet, spits out some blood. Teena Marie finished descending the stairs to stand on even ground with Nerva on the tavern’s dance floor.

“Now that’s more like it. I was thinking all you rebels were pussies” Nerva says, smiling.

She dashes towards Teena Marie, unleashing a barrage of fire punches. Her target steps back, getting out of Nerva’s range. With her long legs she kicks Nerva on the side of the head, making Nerva stumble. She follows up with another kick, knocking Nerva to the ground. Nerva rolls onto her stomach, puts her hands on the ground. She shoots fire out of them, propelling her up towards Teena Marie. Near her, Nerva drives her foot into her target's face, making her fly crash into a nearby table.

“How you like that bitch!” Nerva yells, feeling very satisfied with that kick.

Teena Maria gets up, wiping blood from her mouth.

“Did you forget?” she asks, raising her right index finger to show the tether that connected her to Warren.

Nerva’s eyes widened. She spins around to look at Warren’s body. Blood is coming out from the side of his mouth.

She hears Teena Marie laugh, making her whirl back around.

“Whatever happens to me, happens to your friend.” she reminds Nerva.

“Shit! Warren wake up god damn it!” Nerva hollers.

Teena Marie closes in on Nerva, hitting her with another kick that makes Nerva roll to the side. She gets up, only to get kicked in the stomach.

“There’s nothing you can do! You can’t kill your friend can you!? You lack resolve!” Teena Marie says, continuing to hit Nerva with kicks.

Nerva tries to sever their connection by blasting her way out of Teena Marie’s attack range and fires off a quick fireball at the tether connecting Teena Marie to Warren. It hits but the tether remains. It was ethereal. She didn’t know what else she could try to wake Warren up. Thinking her way out of situations wasn’t exactly her forte. This whole situation was pissing her off.

“You fucking coward” Nerva curses.

“Ahahaha! This isn’t cowardice. It's a strategy. You don’t seem like someone’s who’s played chess before. If you did, you’d know this is what we call checkmate.” Teena Marie responds.

She zips to Nerva, throwing another kick. Nerva dodges the blow and instinctually tries to uppercut her stomach with a fiery fist but stops short. This gave Teena Marie the opportunity to kick Nerva in the side, making her crash into the bar. Teena Marie slowly struts to Nerva, knowing that victory is assured.

****

Warren woke up with drool coming down the side of his face. His eyes darted around, trying to remember exactly what happened. He was in Ayana, waiting with Nerva for Adam and Quincy to return. He had a drink, then everything went black. He straightens his back and notices he’s sitting on a barstool. In front of him was the bar he knew all too well. It was the bar in Dragon’s Descent.

Confused, he whirls around in his seat to see that Dragon’s Descent was in the middle of a party. Adventurers were chugging alcohol, fighting, and singing songs. Strung along the ceiling are lettered balloons that spell out ‘congratulations’. Warren shakes his head, trying to jog his memory as to what happened. Why’s he here? He strokes his chin in concentration, making the realization that it was smooth. Where was his beard? He spots Nerva and Adam at a table, talking to each other. He rushes over to them.

“Adam! Nerva! What’s happened?” Warren asks frantically.

“Oh hi Warren you woke up.” Adam greets.

“Adam, where's Quincy!? Why are we here?”

“Ugh who?”

“Quincy the second hero. He reads books. Is black.”

“Heh the bartender served you some bad shit huh? You sound all crazy.” Nerva interjects.

Warren turns his attention to her.

“Nerva are you ok? Do you know what’s happening?”

“Ugh...the fuck you on about?” she answers, sounding very concerned.

“Look, we were in Milan. We had drinks but my drink was spiked. I don’t remember what happened after that.”

“Where the fuck is that at?”

“W-Warren are you ok?” Adam asks.

“Adam you went upstairs remember? Had to use the bathroom. Quincy followed you.” Warren recalls.

“I-I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You sound like you had a bad dream.”

Warren stops, realizing that he’s making a scene. He sits down at the table with Nerva and Adam, trying to calm himself down.

After taking a deep breath he asks “What’s the party for?”

Adam and Nerva exchange glances, look back at Warren.

“I-it’s your party Warren. We’re celebrating you ranking up to Champion remember? It’s for us capturing the Murphee Brood.” Adam reveals.

“We kicked major ass!” Nerva adds.

Suddenly Warren’s mind is flooded with memories. He saw his party defeating the Murphee Brood with ease. He defeated Seth Murphee personally causing everyone to cheer around him. Warren feels a hand on his shoulder, looking up to see a woman with beautifully long brown hair that went to her waist. She wears the same brown leather armor Warren’s wearing. Her eyes are a beautiful brown. On her back is her weapon of choice: a large claymore sword.

“Joanna!” Warren exclaims, jumping to his feet.

“Woah you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” she replies.

“No no no no. You’re not supposed to be here. You and everyone else was put into slavery. I was going to get you back.”

His mind becomes hazy, the memories of the past few months slipping from his mind. His friends were captured right? He looks behind Joanna, seeing all of his friends partying in the back. Andrew, Collin, Emilia, Addison, and Noah were right there before his very eyes. Was it really all just a bad dream?

“Warren!” Joanna yells, grabbing onto his shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes. “It’s ok. We’re fine alright? No one’s a slave. I’m right here.”

Warren felt calm by looking into Joanna’s eyes. It really felt like everything was going to be alright. He wanted to sit down again but suddenly he felt a massive headache. Something about this was wrong! He can’t remember why but none of this feels right. He breaks himself free from Joanna’s grip, runs out of Dragon’s Descent.

It’s night outside the guild. Running through the streets the headache going on in Warren’s head becomes more and more painful. What is happening? Next thing Warren knew he’d arrived at a park lit by the bright moonlight. He walks over to a bench, sits down holding the sides of his head. What was real? Did Murphee adventure go smoothly or not? Was Quincy real or not? Was he in Ayana or not!

“Warren” a voice calls out.

He looks up to see Joanna running after him, quickly catching up. She begins to pant.

“Warren you run too fast” she complains.

“Joanna…”

“Warren what’s wrong? Tell me. I don’t care what it is, I’ll help you through it.”

“I-I don’t know. My mind feels like it’s breaking. You’re gone. Yet you’re here.”

“I’m not gone Warren. I never left. Everyone’s fine ok?” she assures.

He stares at her, once again feeling a calm sweep over him. The headache goes away.

“You’re good now?” she asks.

“Yeah. I-I don’t even know what I was so upset about.”

“Good. You really had me going there. Because you have to wake up.”

“W-what?”

Joanna looks puzzled, like she just said something she wasn’t supposed to.

“Ugh I don’t know why I said that just now. That was weird. Come on let’s go. Everyone’s waiting for you to save Nerva.”

Warren stops, narrowing his eyes.

“None of this is real is it?” he asks.

Joanna stops, whirls around. She shakes her head and says “Yes it’s real.”

Suddenly Joanna collapses to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

“You are very troublesome,” Warren hears behind him.

He looks back, seeing a woman he recognizes. It was the bartender.

“I’m trying to make things easy for you. Yet your subconscious keeps fighting back. This hasn’t happened before.” she continues.

Warren raises his arms, ready for a fight. He remembers it all now. All the real memories flowed backed in. He has an opponent to defeat.

“Oh that won’t work. I’m in control here despite how much your subconscious keeps fighting back.” she mentions

“Dream manipulation?” Warren guesses.

“Bingo. You’re asleep right now. We’re connected. I’m trying to give you a peaceful death since I have no quarrel with you personally. However when I try to give you a dream you never want to wake up from I keep encountering resistance. Your willpower is strong but it doesn’t matter. After doing some tweaking you’ll forget this conversation ever happened.”

Warren quickly turns around, plucking the sword from the fake Joanna’s body.

“I said you can’t fight me here. I’m ethereal. My real body and consciousness are outside handling the privileged girl. I wouldn’t worry about her anymore, about anybody actually. You’ll live out the rest of your life in paradise. I only want the rich to suffer. I’m not your enemy. I’m your angel.” she states.

“That so? I reject what you’re offering.”

“I’ve combed through your memories. You want to find your friends. Sorry but they’re most likely dead. The only way you’ll see them again is to stay here. If you want happiness, just let me do my thing.”

“A fake happiness? That’s not happiness at all. It’s a sad delusion. I’ll face reality, no matter what it may bring.”

“That’s a commendable attitude. However you can’t wake up”

Teena Marie was about to flick her wrist, resetting the entire dream when Warren plunged the claymore into his stomach, falling over in a pool of blood.

“What are you doing?!” she yells, confused by the sudden action.

“A surefire way to wake up from a dream, is to die.” he says.

The environment around them starts to fade, being replaced by a white void.

“What!? No!” Teena Marie exclaims.

This has never happened before. Everyone accepts the paradise she made for them so that they could live out their days happy. No one was ever insane enough to kill themselves in their dream. In fact they weren’t ever supposed to question their surroundings yet Warren’s subconscious did. It was like Warren knew instinctively something was wrong even when she changed his memories inside the dream. His subconscious did everything it could to make Warren cognizant of what happened. The headaches and eventually taking control of her puppet was like a natural response. She had never dealt with someone with so much willpower. No matter what she did she couldn’t make Warren submit. It was her loss.

***

The actual Teena Marie was closing in on Nerva, the latter sitting against the bar’s counter unsure of what to do when suddenly Warren’s body rose. Nerva smiles at Teena Marie, excited for what’s coming.

“Oh it’s over now bitch” she insults, standing up.

Teena Marie stops in her tracks, sensing a very threatening presence behind her. She whirls around and is met with a fist to the face, sending her body over to the bar, over Nerva’s head.

“‘Bout time you woke up Warren!” Nerva exclaims.

Warren stands there, stretching his shoulder.

“Sorry about that. It was more troublesome than you’d think.”

Teena Marie stands up across the counter, realizing that the punch had knocked out half of her teeth. She looks at her hands, seeing that the thread that connected her to Warren was gone. With Warren awake they were no longer connected. Did her subconscious lose? But she had complete control over people’s dreams. How did he fight back?

“I didn’t miss much did I?” Warren asks Nerva.

“Nah I just had to beat up a bunch of pussies. It was fun.” she answers.

“I see. Well it appears there’s one left. What do you want to do?”

“I want to beat her ass. Wanna join me?”

“It’d be my pleasure.”

Knowing she didn’t stand a chance against them, Teen Marie tries to run away. She sprints for the staircase, quickly ascending them. However at the top of the staircase is Warren. He moved that quickly. She tried to redirect herself but it was too late. Warren punches her in the face, sending her back down the stairs. Getting up, she sees Nerva standing next to her.

“W-wait I” she begins but is punched in the ribcage by Nerva, forcing her to cough up blood.

Warren jumps down on the other side of Teena Marie. She was sandwiched between Nerva and Warren now. They begin to beat her. From both sides they pummel her in a constant stream of punches. Teena Marie is beaten to a blood pulp. To end things Warren unsheathes his machete, plunges it through her chest, making her cough up more blood. He pulls the blade out, making her fall to the ground.

“Nerva, do your thing.” Warren orders, heading to the tavern’s entrance.

He kicks down the door, heading into the night.

“P-p-please don’t do this” Teena Marie begs.

Nerva laughs, saying “Checkmate bitch.”

Nerva shoots a fireball at her, igniting her ablaze. Teena Marie begins to scream as her flesh is burned to a crisp. The fire spreads, engulfing the entire building in a matter of minutes. Nerva nonchalantly exits, meeting up with Warren outside.

“Glad we got that shit over with” she says to him.

“Yeah. Service was horrible huh?”

“Hah! Yeah it fucking sucked”

They hear the sound of footsteps approaching and see that it’s Adam and Quincy. The party was reunited.

****

Adam and I stop, seeing that the tavern is on fire. We missed something all right. In front of it are Warren and Nerva, ignoring the burning building. Nerva looks a bit beat up but Warren appears to be fine for the most part. I wonder what happened.

“Are you guys ok!?” Adam asks, out of breath.

“Yeah we’re ok Adam. Just had some bad customer service” Warren states.

“Huh?”

“We had to fuck shit up” Nerva explains.

“Oh….”

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say you guys burned the tavern down. Good. That place was awful” I declare.

We all look at the burning building. Destruction follows us doesn’t it? I’m kinda getting used to it. As we stare we all sense another presence. We turn around to see a man in a black robe with a hood obscuring his face.

“Ugh...are you guys with the knights? I’m the…. informant” he reveals.

This dude lacks subtlety. We all could tell he was the informant from a mile away. Whatever, I'm just glad we found this guy. Let’s get this over with.