The Blood Red Tavern

"Nothing but greedy jerks now adays" Will thought to himself. He wished that he could go say that aloud, but his arm was shattered, and had a long time till it healed. And there were the stitches on his chest and organs. Fighting people right now was, and still is a stupid idea.

"Worst case scenario, I protect this place." Will thought to himself. He used to think Ace was a cool guy, before what he decided to do today. He ordered another drink.

Kotaro continued to play, entering the unconscious state he entered when playing. His eyes wer closed, his body seemed to sway. Note after note escaping the flute. People were now staring at him, some swaying there heads, but he paid no mind. He couldnt see them. The only thinh there was him, the flute, and the music.

Dwyrin supressed a twitch in her eye and walked across the room to sit at the table with Zergio. She spun the chair around and plopped down right in front of him. "How'd you hurt yourself, Zergio?? Looks serious. I'd hate to let anything happen to you, Rei would be angry. But that guy over there??" She pointed to Ace, "I can't do much about him, really. Do you actually want him to set this place alight?? We're not greedy. We're just in a business," she finished, smiling mirthlessly.

{I got skipped O:}

[I see. We shall adjust.

Ace, Me, Kotaro, Dwyrin

So, Ace's go]

Ace waved his flag around to the music. "Encore! Encore! Dwyrin, we need entertainment at the Bar like this."

Will looked Dwyrin, straight in the eyes.

"My arm was bitten by a Chimera, and shattered by it. And of course not!" Will said, frustrated. "Your over reacting because of one Tavern! People in here need bread on their tables as well. I've had 2 of my farms burned to the ground, and what ticked me off is that, you just seriously said you would destroy this place! Well, Ace did, not you, so, sorry for yelling that at you..... Its just..... when I felt the pain of loss........."

Will shat up before saying anything he would regret.

"I don't mind you doing things to gain the crowd from here to your place, but...... they don't deserve to just lose this building in the wake of a fire, fueled by mis-just reasons. I have no ill will to you two. As I said, what he said just ticked me off."

Will bowed slightly.

"Im sorry if I angered you in any way."

Kotaro ended the song, opening his eyes. He was surprised to see a pile of money had stacked near him. A large man came up to him. “Thats for you.” Kotaro smiled. “Thank you.” The man shuffled his feet. “Are you ussually around here? We could use the music and I would be willing to pay ya for doing it here.” Kotaro gawked at the man. Had he been that good? He looked at his flute.

Dwyrin looked at Zergio, a little stunned. She hadn't expected him to actually answer her. Besides, what good would it do them to set the building on fire?? It would be interesting, but they couldn't claim it that way.

She noticed the music had stopped and glanced at Kotaro, wondering when he had started (and then stopped) playing.

She stood and walked back over to Ace. "It was easier to claim than I thougth it would be. You'd hope someone would put up a fight."

Ace walked up and punched the man who asked Kotaro to be his musical interest into the ground. "What the freedom? I just claimed this guy!" Ace turned around and considered stabbing Kotaro with the flag to prove he was claimed.

"Eh, maybe not a good idea," Ace thought and then shouted. "This tavern is closed!"

Ace spun around and looked at Will. "Ace burns stuff, Will. That's how I roll. If you got a problem, check it at the door. I don't care about your farms but I do care about this tavern thinking it can take down my turf. I had a nice bar open for business, a nice little thing going. And this guy shows up thinking he can just make his own game? Well guess what."

Ace smiled. "No!"

What Ace just said, and did, pissed Will off. He didn't care about his injuries any more. He walked right up to Ace, placed his hand in his face, and activated the alchemy circle. Right before everyones eyes, a black nova surrounded Ace and Will. After it disappeared, Will felt like he was going to faint, but Ace had lost a good chunk of his energy, on his knees, barely able to stand up.

"If you don't like the way I think, then check it with my alchemy!"

Will stumbled back a little, his energy nearly gone.

"Your ways are wrong Ace........ and now........."

He looked right at Ace.

"I WILL consider you my enemy. I don't care whatever reason you have....."

Will fell to one knee.

"Im not gonna sit around and do nothing...... and let you have your way........"

Will struggled to get up and head to the door. He quickly looked at Dwyrin.

"And yes, you were right. I was acting. Knowing what you do now, consider what to do with me...... dispose of me....... ally me........ kill me........ so many options........"

Will slowly opened the door and went on his way, coughing up a bit of blood.

[out]

Kotaro helped the man up. He saw what Zergio had done. He walked over to Ace and helped him up. He set him on a chair and turned to Dwrinn. “I dont approve of your methods, but Ace needs help. This seed should heal him.” He produced a green seed. “Close this tavern, and I'll ruin your bar. I would like to be friends, but Ace has started to waver the line.” He thought for a moment. “If you see Tosh, tell her to meet me at her house.” Kotaro placed the seed on Aces table and walked out the door.

((Going to bed. Out))

Dwyrin looked down at the seed, then at Ace. She knew he was fine. She cocked her head to the side. "It looks like we have to be a bit more serious. He really thinks he can ruin us. How cute."

Ace laughed hard and fell out of his chair. "Oh my goodness," Ace said as he pushed a tear from his eyes.

He sat up and slowly caught his breath. "Oh my, oh my," Ace smiled. "Well, that sure was something. It seems I may of hurt our profitability, here, Dwyrin. I sure hope this didn't end in bad advertisement for your bar. Haha."

Ace finally caught his breath as he took a cup of water from the back of the Tavern and drank it down. "Man, that was enjoyable. These civilians can be more entertaining then the Military when they want to be," Ace smiled as he hopped on top of a table.

She watched Ace, amused. That was how she usually felt around him, now that she thought about it. If nothing else, she would have some fun.

"Any advertisement is good advertisement, don't you think??" She said smiling. She jumped up on the table with him and struck a dramatic pose.

Ace swung his flag dramatically and happily sang out. "All hail to the kings of the bars! Dwyrin the majestic warrior and Ace the prince of luck! To our good fortune forevermore!"

Ace paused and rubbed his fingers against his chin. "No, that didn't rhyme at all. Oh well! I declare a solid victory! Even though I did nothing but get hit apparently we scared off our foes yet!"

Rei walked into the tavern, looking for someone in particular. Who she found was far from who she wanted.

"Why are you standing on a table?" Rei asked Dwyrin and Ace, a confused look on her face.

She didn't know the words, and suspected they were random, but she swung her hands to the awkward beat, anyway.

Majestic warrior and prince of luck?? What a pair, She shook her head and laughed. "It seems that way. Now to ransack the kitchen??"

Just as she started to jump off the table Rei walked in. "We're celebrating!"

Ace pointed at Rei. "Hello! I didn't know you were a Tavern girl, Rei! That doesn't seem your style," Ace shook his head as he bounced off the table and landed into a sweeping bow before Rei.

"Miss, it has been too long, and my eyes have longed to see you!" Ace cried as he threw his hands up. "But yes, we're celebrating victory over this Tavern."

"I'm not," Rei said, putting her hands on her hips. "'Victory over this Tavern'? What does that mean?"

"It's pretty obvious, I thought," she said to Rei, still infected with Ace's enthusiasm. She jumped off the table and also bowed. "Drinks are on the house! As is the food."

"And if you've ever wanted a new table to match your book store?" Ace said as he picked up a table. "It's on us."

Ace noticed Rei was still confused and pointed at his flag.

Rei gave one long nod, skeptical but unwilling to fight the concept. She found that she had begun smiling; Dwyrin and Ace's enthusiasm was oddly catching. "So, celebrating, huh?" she said, walking farther into the room. "Sounds like, um, fun?"

Zane went in and saw a couple of people he didn't expect to see - but he heard that drinks were on the house and decided to check it out.

The moment he went in though, he considered leaving. But he stayed anyway.

"Pretty enthusiastic, hm," he muttered.

"Celebrating is always fun with us." She glanced at Ace. "At least most of the time."

Zane walked in the door, and she immediately strode across the room and made a small bow. "I see you've got the good taste to have found us."